The Port Charlotte Case, Part 1


February 19, 2025

The Port Charlotte Case

Part 1

After it was filled, you would bless your private cask
of Port Charlotte, with the much-missed Duncan
McGillivray officiating as high priest
(2002, WF Archive)

Several factors need to be considered. First, when the Bruichladdich distillery resumed operations in the early 2000s, it launched a vigorous and welcome programme of selling casks of new fillings. Over the years, these whiskies—particularly Port Charlotte—have been released onto the market by their owners, sometimes professionals, but also clubs and individual enthusiasts.
As a result, we at WF have found ourselves rather overwhelmed with Port Charlotte expressions to taste over the years. We were absolutely delighted, as we love Port Charlotte, but it became impossible to keep up with the pace.

This led us to repeatedly postpone the Big Port Charlotte Session we had planned for some time, especially as more and more versions were being released, with some now approaching 25 years of age.
But the time has come! The only small issue is that we now have selected around forty different Port Charlotte bottlings in front of us, ranging from recent releases to much older ones. Rest assured, we’re not going to taste them all in one go—far from it; that would be lethal! But let’s start with one of the early vintages, shall we…?

Port Charlotte 9 yo 2002/2011 (63.5%, OB, Valinch Prediction, Château La Tour, cask #130, 450 bottles)

No idea what this so-called "Château La Tour" is—if they meant the 1er Grand Cru from Pauillac, that’s "Latour," not "La Tour." Who knows? In any case, it brings to mind the charming old habit of the Scots who, when wine cask finishing first started taking over whiskydom, would spell the names of crus in utterly nonsensical ways (Barollo, Sauterne, etc.)… Colour: gold. Nose: not an overbearing red wine influence, but there’s still a sense of smoked strawberry tart with peat and charcoal. But it’s not bad at all! With water: the peat smoke takes charge, and Latour or not, one can't really complain. Mouth (neat): grenadine syrup, seawater, and smoked water, with black pepper and rather salty grilled bacon. With water: yet again, the peat moves to the forefront, though the red fruits and bell pepper hold their ground. Big pepper. Finish: very long, even saltier. Oysters with cherry juice. I know. Blood orange and Campari. Comments: actually, not bad at all—oddly enough, it didn’t clash too much, though the colour had already suggested this wasn’t first-fill Bordeaux red.
SGP:667 - 85 points.

While we're on the subject of wine...

Port Charlotte 12 yo 2002/2015 (55.8%, The Whisky Barrel, Burns Malt, Gran Callejo wine, cask #1164)

Gran Callejo is a well-regarded Ribera del Duero, so we should expect some red fruit… Tempranillo ahead! Colour: white wine? Nose: in the vein of the ‘La Tour’ but more restrained, perhaps even more complex, without that massive peat blast that blows your head off. Redcurrant, barley, shellfish. With water: much rounder, with custard and buttercream, then fresh barley. The peat is very civilised. Mouth (neat): lovely, very peppery this time, but really more on blood oranges and white and pink pepper. With water: really good, but now we’re edging more into the classic clashes of the peat + red wine combo. Finish: long, but again, more civilised. Bitter oranges and pepper. A slightly camphory aftertaste. Comments: not bad at all.
SGP:566 - 85 points.

Port Charlotte 12 yo 2003/2016 (61.1%, Blackadder, Raw Cask, sherry, cask #622, 284 bottles)

Colour: caramel amber. Nose: ah yes, we’re in the realm of old-school Laphroaig sherry here, like the 1974 OB for LMDW, or even those legendary Italian bottlings. This dances beautifully—it’s perfect, it’s big. A Mars bar smoked over beechwood and peat. Brilliant, truly. With water: a freshly opened box of Cuban cigars and heaps of charcoal. Magnificent. Mouth (neat): simply perfect. Hugely smoky, packed with ripe figs, cracked pepper, and toffee. In short, a proper powerhouse. With water: indeed, it’s perfect. Gorgeous chocolate truffles with pepper and bitter orange. Finish: very long, with hints of tar—though, to be fair, they were already there from the start. Comments: I wonder if there’s already a touch of positive OBE. Absolutely stunning—give it 20 years, and it’ll be a star, like young Ledaigs or PE from James MacArthur. Yes yes yes.
SGP:567 - 90 points.

Port Charlotte 22 yo 2001/2024 (51.7%, Lucky Choice & Anchor, hogshead, cask #4130)

The first vintage and one from Downunda at that, hurray. Colour: full gold. Nose: utterly lovely, of course gentler now, with all sorts of small oils, ointments, and waxes, fresh papier-mâché notes, a couple of tiny pink olives, and smoked kippers… It takes these ages for whiskies to develop their tertiary aromas in cask, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing here. With water: menthol emerges, a slight terpene touch, seaweed on the shore… Mouth (neat): a real bridge between youthful aggression and the wisdom of age (pure romantic nonsense, S.). In any case, plenty of small green spices, seaweed, smoked almonds, shellfish, and tiny citrus fruits like fresh kumquats or candied orange zest. With water: yes, very good—I think this might be the first time we’re tasting a Port Charlotte this evolved (in the best sense of the word). A touch of rubber and beautiful bitterness. Finish: long, on salty, peppery citrus. Peppery artichokes in the aftertaste. Comments: well then, resisting Blackadder was no small feat—bravo! (With the voice of Hugh Laurie.)
SGP:466 - 90 points.

Port Charlotte 16 yo 2007/2024 (62.4%, Dramfool’s Jim McEwan Signature Collection, first fill Vosne-Romanée barrique, cask #5, 258 bottles)

Well, let’s play the pedant once again—Vosne-Romanée is in Burgundy, and in Burgundy, they don’t use barriques, they use ‘pièces’. Barriques are, for example, a Bordeaux thing. But you’re quite right, it doesn’t matter in the slightest… Colour: apricot. Nose: now this is entirely trans-category—this is pure winsky! The cassis and black cherries from the Pinot Noir reign supreme over this peppery peat, and in rather extreme fashion. The worst part? It seems to work. With water: garden soil, humus, tomato leaf, cherry stems, red pepper, and blackcurrant buds. Mouth (neat): massive cherries, loads of pepper and peat, and a fair bit of ethanol… With water: amusingly, the Pinot Noir seems tamed (we’re not talking about ‘neglected nun’, nor about ‘hare’s belly’), but there’s still plenty of smoked pepper and even a touch of black garlic. And we love black garlic. Finish: it keeps shaking things up, with green spices jostling at the gates. Small peppers, cardamom, juniper… It finishes on salted, smoked cherry liqueur with a peppery twist. Now there’s an idea for a new product (but please, don’t quote me on that). Comments: a diabolical concoction.
SGP:666 - 87 points.

These PCs are still a bit intense—no way we're tasting a dozen in a row. Well, time to innovate, we may use some of them for "bonus" sessions from time to time, adding them as a second tasting certain days. It's the first time we'd be doing this, but hey, there's a first time for everything.

Check the index of all Port Charlotte we've tasted so far