| |
Home
Thousands of tastings,
all the music,
all the rambligs
and all the fun
(hopefully!)
Whiskyfun.com
Guaranteed ad-free
copyright 2002-2015
|
 |
|
| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
| |
|
| |
| |
August 4, 2015 |
|
  |
Regular Port Charlotte
plus Nigel Tufnel’s very own |
Lets kick this off with two unusual independent NAS. Oh why not! |
|
Images of Islay 'Rhinns of Islay Lighthouse' (53,2%, Malts of Scotland, 176 bottles)  Well, I have no proof that this is Port Charlotte, but let’s consider that the very distinguished bottlers wouldn’t have chosen this name, should this baby have been distilled elsewhere. Unless it’s Bruichladdich, Kilchoman or Octomore, of course. Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s very peaty, so definitely not Bruichladdich. It’s not peated to the extreme, so probably not Octomore. And ‘Port Charlotte’ is closer to the south of the Rhinns, where the lighthouse is located, than Kilchoman. So… Having said that, I find this very young and a little rough. A bit of plastic, perhaps? Very smoky porridge, capers, lemon juice, seawater. With water: more plastic, leatherette, crude oil… Mouth (neat): sharp, very briny, lemony, young, a bit rough. Indeed, probably very young. A touch of shoe polish. With water: same, more or less. Green olives? Very salty. Finish: long, always with these touches of plastic. The rest is appropriately smoky and coastal. Comments: quite extreme, extremely salty, and ‘moderately’ plastic-y. Loved some parts, others a little less. SGP:367 - 81 points. |
|
Pl3 (60.3%, Specialty Drinks, Elements of Islay, 2015)  The fact that this baby was aged in Climens cask (the best Barsac if you ask me, but Coutet’s not bad either) leaves no doubt, this must has been sourced from B***********h, either directly or indirectly. Colour: gold. Nose: but what is this? Loses you at first nosing – unless you love your sandwich coated with tyre rubber and filled with apricot jam – and you really need to get accustomed to this unusual combo… Let’s try to snap out of it… Ach… No, it’s some kind of smoked jam, mirabelles, perhaps quinces… With quite some vanilla. Very interesting, but perhaps a little un-whisky? With water: at least it’s balanced. Nice mirabelle jam/exhaust fumes combination ;-). Mouth (neat): troubling, but I find this good. A lot of fudge, butterscotch, some kind of smoky cake for Hells Angels, some pine sap for sure, chartreuse (there we go again)… It’s thick, it’s oily, and the only similar whisky I ever tasted was, if I remember well, a Sauternes-finished Laphroaig by the good people at Signatory. With water: balance is kept, that’s the main thing. Same feeling of smoked jams with some salt thrown in. Finish: long, with leafy touches. Comments: an UFW (that’s right, that would be Unidentified Flying Whisky) but it grows on you. And hey, it’s intriguing, as they say. Try to try it! SGP:657 - 84 points. |
So, back to, I imagine, normal ones… |
|
Port Charlotte 2002/2013 (57.4%, Malts of Scotland, bourbon hogshead, cask #MoS 13053, 275 bottles)  Plenty of excellent Port Charlottes by Malts of Scotland already, this one seems to have fallen through WF’s cracks. Until today! Colour: full gold. Nose: as bright as peated whisky can be. Immaculate rounded peatiness, with something that reminds me of Laphroaig’s 10 CS, circa 2010, some metal polish, a touch of quince jelly, a lot of ashes, and… all that. Clean and full. With water: smoked orange juice blended with seawater and drops of engine oil. Mouth (neat): rich, perfect, with some tobacco, smoke, orange liqueur, iodine, menthol, lime juice, a touch of black olive… Yeah, full and perfect. Only a tiny wee touch of pencil shavings. With water: truly excellent, for a long time. Leathery smoke, walnuts, lemon, salt, peppered winkles (are you sure, S.?) … Finish: long, salty, smoky, full. Salted smoked almonds in the aftertaste. Comments: excellent indeed. Not much else to say, without that wee oakiness that showed up at some point, that would have been 90+. Oh come on. SGP:458 - 89 points. |
Well well well, why not try a Port Charlotte that goes to eleven as the one for the road?… What would you say? |
|
Oc1 (65.4%, Specialty Drinks, Elements of Islay, 2015)  Of course, we have no dead proof that ‘Oc’ means Octomore. Could mean ‘Och, this is whisky’… Ah, yeah, about it being NAS. Well, that’s no big deal when the spirit just cannot be old anyway! When did they start to make Octomore, again? 2002? 2003? Colour: gold. Nose: as always, you’d think Octomore isn’t that peatier than Port Charlotte when you try them in a row. This must be a story of perceived peatiness, tired olfactory bulb, or something. But what’s sure is that this is pretty brilliant coastal whisky, full of brine, seawater, cigars, damp earth, beach sand after a heavy shower, perhaps even fresh mushrooms… But 1. the very high strength may block a part of the aromas, and 2. Oops, forgot what I wanted to say. With (quite a lot of) water: cows, the fields behind the distillery, marzipan, the engine of an old car, quite a few cigars from our new friend Cuba, an old toolbox, old coins… Mouth (neat): very high impact almondy, gingery peat, with huge almond oil, marzipan, metal polish (-like), salmiak… Probably one of the biggest arrivals I’ve ever encountered. You have to be a good fighter with these drams, or they’ll just do an ippon on you. Be extra-careful! With (quite a lot of) water: rocks and kills. Perfect, nothing to add (who said ‘great’?) Finish: long, thick, oily and creamy, liqueury as far as textures are concerned (they did NOT add any glycerine, I’m sure), and just perfect. Very salty aftertaste. Comments: loved the almondy side, and all the rest. The best orgeat syrup ever! Here’s to you, Mark R.! SGP:548 - 92 points. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Check the index of 