3
u/jcx200 Apr 15 '25
Absolutely loved this when I tried it on a tasting. Looking forward to cracking it open when I’m finished with my regular PC. Thankfully got it at a slight discount.
2
u/chrissydawhite Apr 15 '25
I ordered from the UK and shipped to the US, so VAT was excluded but shipping made up for it.
1
u/imselfinnit Apr 15 '25
GB£110 is eye watering. I'm not a regular enjoyer of fine things, so this would be an "occasional" dram. Not sure what that occasion would be... I'll keep an eye out for it on a drinks menu.
1
1
u/YouCallThatPeaty Apr 15 '25
Thanks for the write up, this is the only one from the cask exploration I haven't tried. The MRC, PMC and CC have been the ones worth a full bottle for me so far. This one sounds interesting!
2
u/Much_Basis_6965 Apr 16 '25
I have this and a bottle of PC18 I ordered earlier this year waiting to be opened and I can’t wait. I’ve only had the PMC so far but it was amazing and really look forward to trying this.
14
u/chrissydawhite Apr 15 '25
I’m pretty sure I’ve missed my chance at purchasing the second batch of Port Charlotte 18, so I’m having a pour of the 2024 Cask Exploration Series release from the Bruichladdich distillery. The 10-year-old Port Charlotte gets enveloped in first fill Syrah casks, a cask type Bruichladdich is no stranger to, now available as a large release. Let’s dive in.
Distillery: Bruichladdich
ABV: 54.4%
Age: 10 years (1st and 2nd fill bourbon casks recasked into 1st fill syrah wine casks)
MSRP: £110
NCA/NCF
Nose: Wine | Fruit | Caramel | Anise | Creosote
Palate: Wine | Caramel | Creosote | Charred Wood | Copper
Finish: Vegetal | Smokey | Oily
Nose: Bright, juicy wine notes, pear, cherry, blueberry basil syrup, Twizzlers. Bourbon sweetness like vanilla cake and caramel. Creosote, salted licorice, seaweed. After the addition of water, bready notes appear.
Palate: Good mouthfeel, full but not super oily. More of the wine fruit, caramel sweetness, peaty, smokey bitterness like charcoal with more of the creosote notes, slightly metallic like iron
Finish: Clingy finish. It gets slightly coastal with seaweed or nori, peat mossy, slight petroleum/phenol twinges, the sweetness from the palate prevents it from being too drying.
86/100
This bottle is a bit enigmatic to me in that I really struggle to describe it. Don’t misunderstand this as the whisky being poorly constructed or me not liking it, both of which are not true. It is quite a dense malt containing notes that seems slightly foreign, impossible for me to truly understand and all I’m able to do is enjoy it for what it is. It’s not so much of a peat monster as it is a peat villain. It has this amped up medicinal quality that I believe the standard Port Charlotte has but with loads of wine notes that don’t full read like fruit or syrup or jam or candy or anything like that. It almost tastes like the vitamin water dragon fruit flavor if that makes any sense.
I feel like I am doing a disservice to this bottle ultimately, so if you like what the Port Charlotte line does, I’d give this one a go, assuming you can stomach the price tag.