Port Charlotte Scottish Barley – heavily peated whisky review

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley is a heavily peated whisky from Bruichladdich distillery who usually are known for unpeated whiskies. If you don’t count Bruichladdich’s über peated range called Octomore. Actually their Port Charlotte range is nowadays so wide, that you can forget the statement “Islay’s non-peated distillery”, which was widely used not so long time ago.

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley surely is heavily peated, it has a peat level of 40 ppm. Many vintages are presented in this single malt, I’ve gathered the cask info by Bruichladdich at the end of this article. All the casks have been hand-picked by the Head Distiller Adam Hannett, just like they were picked by Jim McEwan when he was running the place. This dram has been trickle distilled.

The Island – in a glass

This has the trademark Bruichladdich freshness in it. Nicely strong peated whisky – shows its young age with a dull finish but manages to show some character in aromas and taste. When given time. Like a slowly starting diesel engine, Port Charlotte Scottish Barley shows you “Islay in a glass”, like Jim McEwan stated. Reminds me of movie called The Island, where Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson play clones in a good action adventure. This whisky is also a clone, of other fresh Laddies, and I mean it in a good way. Captures the true spirit of Islay island.

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Scoring

Click the picture to see the full recipe by Bruichladdich

Vatting of 67 casks, 3 vintages, 1 barley type and 9 cask types