Port Charlotte

This is the next peater in my sequence of peaty whiskies. Great way to wind down the year. Will I end it with Douglas Laing's Big Peat Christmas edition? Probably not. Let's enjoy the peaters while they last. This one comes courtesy of NF, who's practicing temporary abstinence from alcohol as a spiritual discipline (shortly after she bought this one). Port Charlotte is Bruichladdich's peated offering, between the Laddie and the Octomore in peat levels.

Port Charlotte 2007 CC:01 (abv 57.8%)

Colour - hay-ish

Nose - White wine, smells like a Chardonnay. Fairly sharp and sour. A note of sea breeze, followed by lemons and seaweed. Soy sauce and mustard. Smoky, of course. But not overwhelmingly so. Unripe plums. A dusty leather book cover. Honey, to soothe the soul. Mm. I could sniff this for a long long time. With water: A lot more restrained. Loses the white wine notes. Dusty still. Maltier. Peat tunes up and smoke tunes down.

Palate - Ouch ouch ouch. 57.8% hurts. But. Lots of good stuff going on. Smoky and sooty upfront, with a light bitter, charred note lingering throughout. There's some fruit behind all that smoke and peat, for sure. Asian pears, unripe plums, a bit of lemon. A touch of butter. This feels young-ish, which is about right, given that it's been matured for under 10 years. Very oaky - lots of wood tannin, wood varnish. Mm. Yes, more varnish than tannin. Quite classy, I think. Like having barbecued fruit beside a beach that's on fire. With a side of smoked fish. Sounds about right. With water: Still the alcohol burns. Mm. More umami, I think. Smoked fish and a touch of roast meat. Oak becomes less prominent. More pepper, clove, maybe a basil leaf in there somewhere. I think it tasted better without water, with the oak standing out. Feels like French oak, like a Chichibu I had once. But water mutes what made it special, and it becomes a normal peater. Still good, mind.

Finish - Peppery, woody. Drying, tannic. Smoky. That smoke's gonna stay with you for a long time. With water: More pepper and mint. Just as dry.

Overall - Was saying that the woodiness of this reminds me of a Chichibu I had once that was single cask of French oak, and voila, this is also matured in French oak! Is that classy woodiness from the French oak? Has to be, right? But for people who like their whiskies sweet and easy, this will be tough, like chewing your furniture. The wood supplements the peat to give the overall feel a slight bitterness, but I think it just about hits the spot, as far as bitterness goes. Many thanks to NF once again for the sample! The alcohol burns a bit, with or without water.

Indie Caol Ila

Just as Man U is currently stringing together a good sequence of wins, I'm going to do a sequence of peaty whiskies from everyone's favourite Scotch region. A couple of the whiskies in this sequence are very kindly shared by friends - thanks PY and NF (in advance)! As promised in the previous, this one is a strong Caol Ila.

PY bought this indie Caol Ila some time back at LMDW, and we had a quick sip. His initial review was that this Caol Ila is the real thing, making a Kilchoman single sherry cask feel 'feignty'. Big bold claim. He kindly gave me a small sample to try at leisure, and I'm finally giving this a shot.

Caol Ila G&M 'Cask Strengh', 2004/2015 (60.1% abv)

Nose - Sharp attack, like Lukaku - big alcohol tendrils unfurling in your nose. Wasabi-like. A hint of kerosene and flint - explosive, like Rashford's pace. Behind that, smoke and lemons, then salt. Pears, pear rind, a little vanilla, and some rich notes from the cask, I believe - oak, a touch of coconut, peach. Peat turns ashy from the rather grassier initial profile. Complex and intricate, like Mkhitaryan. Ok, enough Man United references...

Palate - Lemonade! Vanilla and honey. Nectar. Toffee. Lots of sweet stuff going on here! Help! I think I'm losing the war on diabetes! Oh, great, there's the chalk and salt to the rescue! Some bitter notes, like tea. Pear drops, stewed fruit. Smoke and ashes. A big beach bonfire. Grapefruit and ginger, then a bunch of pepper sprinkled with clove and...parsley? Tea tannin...overbrewed Chinese tea.

Finish - Charcoal smoke, like sitting beside the campfire after the flames die down. Lots of pepper, some chalk, a hint of nut oils, lingering ginger. A little bitter for my liking though.

Overall - wow. That was intense. I wouldn't say that this makes the Kilchoman feel feinty, for I think the Kilchoman's a little more polished than this Caol Ila. Nonetheless, this IS very big and intense, like Matic's pres...ok, never mind. How does G&M get their hands on so many barrels of such good stock?

Great start to the Islay sequence! Up next is...NF's PC!

Caol Ila for newbies

This bottle is from LMDW's The Ten series. The series is meant to be an introduction to the various prominent styles of whiskies from Scotland, and thus are labelled things like 'Heavy Smoke', 'Intermediate Sherry' (oh wait, was that for Amrut?), 'Light sherry', etc. This one is 'Medium Islay Peat'. The whisky is from Caol Ila, distilled in 2008 and bottled in 2015, making it 7 years. I think it's a marketing strategy for the seventh whisky in the Ten to also be seven years. So, one number, two interpretations, both valid. Yay. A hermeneuticist's best friend.

Caol Ila 'The Ten' for LMDW (abv 40.10%)

Colour - Pale. Very pale. Paler than the picture suggests. The pee of a normal person who's maybe a little dehydrated.

Nose - Light Islay peat, contrary to what the label claims. This is lighter than usual Caol Ilas. Smokey without venturing into the heavily charred territory of Ardbeg. Not even the pure charcoal smoke of Caol Ila. This is more like lightly charred wood. The light smoke helps one to notice the other aspects of Caol Ila - citrusy. Suggestions of apricots. A little savoury, with a generous dash of salt.

Palate - Mm. Alcohol heat, probably due to age. But fairly fruity. Pears and apples, with a hint of grapefruit. Orange pith. Ooh. Surprising sweet touch...tastes a bit like triple-sec. Pepper. Salty too.

Finish - A little minty and maybe one eucalyptus leaf. Peppery, a whiff of smoke that wasn't prominent on the palate comes back up the chimney.

Overall - As an introductory malt, this is actually pretty tasty, and showcases the goodness of a simple, naked Caol Ila. Not complex enough to wow, but good to use as part of an educational tasting set. Though I would probably tell tasters that this is not 'Medium', but light. And, perhaps the peat isn't as obvious here, though perhaps a comparison with, say, a light Laphroaig might help the newcomer to recognize peat. I'm also wondering if the ".10%" abv is part of the branding. Probably, right?

Next post will be a heavy Caol Ila.