Port Charlotte 10 year Old (2018) Islay

Port Charlotte 10 is matured in a mix of first and second fill bourbon casks and refill French oak wine casks.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Lemon infused herbal tabacco, lemon oil and soot. Many coastal and shoreline aromas such as seaweed and sandalwood notes. You may also add coal smoke, lanolin, sweet peat smoke and a little dried mint leaf. With water: Becomes more citrus now with lots of lime and lemon juice, a hint of guava and some rather elegant flinty mineral qualities.

Mouth: Lots of background farmyard notes and smoked barley aspects. Peppered mackerel, smoked hay and a little sourdough starter. With water: Moves towards barley and tar with time.

Finish: Long, salty, lemony, lots of hay and smoked cereals.

Critic tasting note: “After many limited releases, we finally have a permanent age-statement expression of Port Charlotte, with a satisfying number of years under its belt. Distilled from Scottish-grown barley, it is matured predominantly in first-fill American oak casks, along with second-fill American and second-fill French wine casks. It is peated to 40ppm, in line with other Islay heavy-hitters, but the peat is never a blunt instrument, retaining sufficient restraint to allow other characteristics—maritime notes, the sweetness of caramel, coconut, and orchard fruits—to shine through. Number 4 in the 2018 Top 20” – 93/100, Whisky Advocate