Port Charlotte 10 Year Old Heavily Peated Islay Single Malt Whisky 700ml
$115.00
Earn 115 Reward Points
This Port Charlotte 10 year old has been conceived, distilled, matured and bottled on Islay alone.
We are a young team with deep-rooted values, and an ambition to make the ultimate “Islay” Islay whisky.
A whisky made by people not software; a whisky watched over every day of its maturing life by those who made it; a whisky born of a community with a vision and a mission to kick start a single malt whisky revolution, this Port Charlotte 10 year old is who we are.
This is where we’re from.
Available on backorder
Bruichladdich may have been described as ‘a working distillery museum’, but in its day it was one of Islay’s most modern plants – and today is one of Scotland’s most innovative. It was built in 1881 by the Harvey brothers, who owned the Dundashill and Yoker grain distilleries in Glasgow. Like all of the late Victorian plants, its fortunes were inextricably linked to blends from the outset.
In 1937, the eccentric Joseph Hobbs (see Ben Nevis) picked it up, but by 1954 it become part of DCL, which quickly offloaded it to AB Grant.
In 1968, Invergordon – whose business was predominantly bulk supplies – became its owner and, after a period of reduced production in the 1980s, it became part of Whyte & Mackay’s portfolio through a merger in 1993. Deemed to be surplus to requirements, the Glasgow firm closed it down in 1995 and it remained silent until 2001 when a group of Islay landowners and a London-based wine merchant bought it for £6 million.
At this point the distillery was transformed. None of the previous owners had modernised the equipment and the new parents couldn’t afford a significant upgrade, so ‘the old lady of Islay’ was nursed back to health. The money was desperately needed elsewhere.
Years of producing bulk had resulted in a less than quality-oriented wood policy, which necessitated re-racking some casks into fresh wood, including a huge range of ex-wine and fortified wine casks. Further investment went into the building of the bottling line (which employs people from the island).
Experimentation and innovation continued – multiple distillates, gin, finishing, local barley – before in 2012 Rémy Cointreau bought Bruichladdich for £58m. This made investment in new plant and machinery possible, and in the intervening years additional warehousing has been built on Islay.
In April 2019, Bruichladdich unveiled plans to build its own maltings (although much of its barley is grown on Islay, currently it is sent to Inverness for malting). The distillery has also bought 30 acres of nearby farmland to conduct barley trials and test sustainable farming practices.
Nose: The smoke is calmed by the marine, ozone character, Time has brought a balance, a harmony in the combination of oak, smoke and spirit. While the smoke is always discernible on the nose it is dry, earthy, peat ash in its style and so allows the oak to come forward with waves of golden caramel, fudge, vanilla custard, hints of ginger, nutmeg and clove. There is citrus fruit, coaxed from the glass with a drop of water, gentle lemon meringue and clementine. Breathe deeply and the floral aromas of wild thyme, heather and sea pink bring you to this Atlantic coast.
Palate: On the palate there is a noticeable delicacy and softness in texture and style. Again, the balance of flavour is superb as the smoke wraps loosely around the sweetness drawn from deep within the oak. Coconut, vanilla custard, lemon honey combines with smoked oysters and sun baked salty sand.
Finish: The finish is sublime, smoky sure, but also the soft sweetness of fudge and malted barley, orange, mango and Banoffee pie hinting of the depth and quality of the oak. The many layers interchange on each sip. As the smoke comes and goes so too the notes of the spirit, ripe apple and apricot, beautifully intertwined with malt and oak sweetness and that typical Port Charlotte style dry smoke.
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