Port Charlotte 10 Years Review

Say hello to the final Scotch in our peated Bruichladdich run: Port Charlotte 10 Years. I did a PC10 review a few years ago, but I wanted to see if more than the bottle got a facelift. And, spoiler, it did. But that’s to be expected with a distillery whose goal is flavor, not consistency.

Bruichladdich is a bit unique in that there is no prescribed recipe for each release, no single way they have to make any given label. Instead, they distill, age and blend to make the best whisky they can from any given vintage or age range and their best result gets put out. A, slightly, inconsistent profile that’s consistently good.

Port Charlotte 10 Years – Details and Tasting Notes

Whiskey Details

Region: Islay, Scotland

Distiller: Bruichladdich
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: 1st Fill ex-Bourbon (65%), 2nd Fill ex-Bourbon (10%), 2nd Fill ex-French Wine (25%)
Age: 10 Years
ABV: 50%

Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

PPM: 40

Price: $65*

Tasting Notes

EYE
Honey

NOSE
Honey candy, saline, oat cookies, vanilla taffy, smoke, olive oil, graham with some bits of lemon, banana chips and herbal notes.

PALATE
Orchard fruit, honey, roasty malt, saltwater taffy, sweet lemon peel, oat cookies, iodine, dried apples and some herbal notes.

FINISH
Long -> Hay-like malt, salted butter, oat cookies and smoke.

BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Great balance, med-full body, warm lightly oiled feel.

Port Charlotte 10 Years – Overall

Aroma is an oily rich delivery of balanced, sweet, rustic and coastal notes that starts out warm and turns a tad sharp as the coastal notes grow and evens out with the sweet BBQ smoke – it’s like a coastal bonfire BBQ party; Palate carries the same oily rich delivery of notes holding a nice balance of fruity, coastal and homey rustic notes; Finish is warm and carries the most earthiness to it but doesn’t lack any coastal or sweet notes.

This is a sit-by-the-fire-and-enjoy-the-moment whisky, it’s something to slow down and enjoy.

Port Charlotte 10 Years – Final Thoughts and Score

I’ve had a decent amount of  Port Charlotte over the years and here on The Whiskey Jug, I’ve covered the tasty PC6, a 12-year-old Burns’ Night Port Charlotte, an older version of the Port Charlotte Scottish Barley, an older Port Charlotte Islay Barley, an OG PC10 and yesterday the Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2012. They’ve all been delicious, but this… this is something a bit different.

It’s not aggressive, it’s not weak, it’s just well balanced and damn good. Though, to be honest, I’ve never met a PC10 I didn’t like. It may shift and change a bit from one release to the next, but it’s always a solid, tasty, Islay Scotch that covers an array of notes to cover an array of preferences. From fruity to coastal Port Charlotte 10 Years is just plain pleasant.

SCORE: 4/5

*Disclosure: The bottle for this Scotch review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.

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