Yesterday we explored the ‘unpeated’ Laddie 8, which is also a Travel Retail Exclusive (Travel retail , as some people asked is what you call “Duty Free”, only editions), and today we continue with yet another Bruichladdich TR Exclusive, this time a heavily peated whisky, from the renowned Port Charlotte line of products. The dram at hand was distilled in 2007, and was then matured in an Ex-Cognac cask for the entire time, allowing for quite some French oak and residue of eau de vie from the western Cognac region, to affect the liquid. Bottled at a hefty 57,8% abv, this is a big , bold whisky. Usually PC editions are quite excellent, and this one is very good indeed,and available in major Duty Free shops. CC:01 probably means Cognac Casks batch #1, if you’re wondering…
Port Charlotte 2007 CC:01 57,8%, OB, £67.99
Nose: Yes, this is definitely a peated PC, and there’s quite some peat, although it’s not huge, it’s sweet as well, spicy, and zingy at times, and not unlike the Laddie 8, it packs a nice sweet fruity quality to it as well, with vanilla, and more tinned peaches, apricots, with a pinch of salt (after all it’s an Islay matured whisky – not that the salt comes from the sea or anything… but..)
Palate: The peat is amplified compare to the nose, which is a good thing, more of an earthy kind of peat, with a nice wood fire smokiness, not very medicinal, but maybe a tiny hint of iodine and bandages, with freshly cracked peppercorns, that hit the palate before the fruity apple peel / apricot / orchard fruit kicks in, and the nice sweet notes of wood, honey and vanilla from the casks appear.
Finish: Long, earthy peat, salt and a wee note of Iodine.
This is not as intense as some previous editions of PC are, it’s sweeter, fruitier, and elegant, while still packing enough peaty/ smoky punch, and depth. Well done, and at under 70 quid, this is also good VFM. If you’re flying soon, this is one of the better deals you can get on peated whiskies. Get one.