Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2013 | 8 Year Old

Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 50%

Bottled in 2021, this is the first 2013 vintage batch of Port Charlotte, Bruichladdich's heavily-peated-but-not-as-heavily-as-Octomore Islay whisky made, as the name implies, entirely from locally-farmed Islay barley.

These Islay Barley Port Charlottes are gradually creeping up in age too - while the 2012 and 2011 vintages were released at 6 years old, this 2013 Port Charlotte Islay Barley has an 8-year-old age statement. The cask recipe is interesting too, with 25% of the batch being finished in red Bordeaux wine casks while the remaining 75% was full term in ex-American Whiskey barrels.

Attributes

Tasting Notes

Nose: The nose opens with delicate floral notes of lily and geranium before warm orange zest and dried earthy peat smoke brings body and gravity. Banoffee pie and digestive biscuit come out from behind the peat smoke and carry forward this dram’s malty, fruity character. Cherry coconut and malted barley jostle with apricot and melon. The nose is so enticing; the sweetness of the oak and the outstanding rubbery, peppery phenolic notes are balanced perfectly with the fruit and floral style of our slow, careful fermentation and distillation.

Palate: The first taste is a wondrous thing; all at once, the salinity, the fruit, the light peat smoke, and the sweet oak show their presence in a whirl of complexity and entice you in to go again. There is great texture from the spirit, and its time resting in carefully selected oak allows a subtle almond note to combine with coconut, caramel, vanilla, and muscovado sugar. The peat smoke in this whisky is as beautifully balanced as ever, weaving through the components, highlighting them but not dominating. A dram that is gentle on the palate yet has a tremendous depth of flavour.

Finish: The finish again shows the balance we are looking for. The smoke, fruit, oak and floral notes melt into each other, and a beautiful creamy texture allows melon, peach and cherry to come through before dwindling into the dry embers of peat in the hearth.

Character: Islay grown barley brings so much complexity to the character in this whisky. The peat smoke in this Port Charlotte is, as ever, beautifully evocative of that traditional Islay style. Purity from the distillation and complexity of maturation brings all the components together with harmony and balance.