Review #137 - Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10 Year

One of Bruichladdich's three distinct spirit styles: Port Charlotte, a heavily peated malt, but not quite the 'super heavily peated' style of Octomore. This comes with a solid age statement of 10 years - young enough that the peat smoke influence will still be strong, but old enough to get a balanced, mature tasting experience with enough oak maturation.

This has been one of our go-to peated whiskies for some time - the casks used for PC10 aren't necessarily defined on the label, and there's some conjecture as to the exact formula in each batch, but we get a pretty strong ex-bourbon vibe on a lot of them. For us, this is a great competitor to Ardbeg's 10 Year Old, as well as Laphroaig's 10 Year Old, but this has the added bonus of 50% ABV, no added coloring, and no heavy filtration.

Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10 Year

Scotland/Islay - Single Malt

Price Paid: USD 70 (2021)

Current Locally Available Price: USD 76 (2023)

Age Statement: 10 Years

Strength: 50% ABV

Details: No color added, not chill filtered

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 2 years; bottles at 100%, 70%, 50% (blind tasting), and 30% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: Bright and peaty - not overwhelming smoke, but a nice medium peat influence. Lighter fruits of orange and lemon citrus, as well as apple, but there's the occasional hint of grape, possibly pointing to a smaller proportion of sherry or wine cask maturation. It's coastal, with salt and seaweed, and we sometimes found a slight vegetal funkiness, like damp earth and green plants. Well-rounded, with some vanilla and balsamic later on, and a mild, dry, barbecued wood.

Palate: Intense, quite salty and peppery; the mouthfeel is medium or so, with medium-strong peat smoke coming through immediately. This is a little more dry than the nose, but we do get charred orange fruit, a hint of pear occasionally. Dry driftwood is paired with a slightly damp, musty oak note, and later, lemons and limes arrive along with barbecue flavors.

Finish: Warm and medium-long - that peat sticks around, along with sea spray and dry wood tannins. It's still a bit oily, and the citrusy acids cut through sweeter notes of vanilla and lemons candies. At the end, there's a lingering aftertaste of campfire wood smoke.

Final Note: This is a really solid entry in the realm of 'entry-level' Islay peat monsters. Strong smokiness, especially on the palate (the nose hides it a little bit in comparison), and a lot of classic, bright ex-bourbon Bruichladdich notes like dry wood and lemon. There is the occasional hint of richer cask influence, but this is nicely spirit-driven and balanced overall. Not exactly cheap at $70 to $75 or a little more, but still a pretty decent value in today's market for the flavor you're getting.

Our Average Rating: 7.1 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.85