Port Charlotte SC:01 2012
9yo Sauternes | 55.2% ABV
Hello darkness my old friend
I’ve previously reviewed a trio of Port Charlotte, including a cask exploration series release PAC:01, the barley exploration series 2013 Islay Barley, and the ex-bourbon goldie that is the PC 10.
I’ll admit I hold some favour to Bruichladdich as they’ve yet to do me significantly wrong in the quality department. I will add the caveat that I’ve really only been enjoying their stuff for the past five years. Prior to this, it simply wasn’t available to purchase in my area beyond the ubiquitous Classic Laddie.
I greatly enjoyed the 2013 Islay Barley and will always stock a bottle of PC 10. When it came to the partially matured in red wine 8yo that is the PAC:01, I struggled connecting with it. It seemed all dark and brooding, offering an interesting mix of wet earthy peat and darker flavours, resulting in me equating it to Bane from the DC Comics/Batman fame.
So when another cask exploration series entered the market, I approached it with trepidation. Yes it was Sauternes which should be significantly different from red wine, but at the recommended retail price, I was extra hesitant. Do I take a step towards the unknown and purchase a whisky that might be similar to the PAC:01?
This hitch in my step reminded me of the rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s iconic The Sound of Silence by rock band Disturbed and their vocalist David Draiman. By taking an iconic and lightly sung folksy song and putting the restrained power of a metal band’s singer behind it and building to a momentous crescendo, it seemed to drive the lyrics home more for me. In terms of the relationship between the whisky and the lyrics, I needed to face the darkness to find if there were any nasty holdovers from my somewhat poor experiences with the PAC:01 release.
So given my willingness to conquer my fears of being let down again, I had put future cask exploration releases on my radar, especially for when the timing is right for purchasing. I’m a habitual sale or offer shopper, so your mileage may differ when looking to purchase whisky. The way I see it, I don’t need more bottles of whisky, affording me the luxury of time. Time to consider which whiskies interest me the most, time to explore various avenues and flavour profiles, and most importantly, time to wait for whiskies which interest or excite me to go on sale or offer.
Case in point is this Port Charlotte release. Taking a quick perusal around various online retailers in the UK, I’m appalled at the listed selling price for this, especially compared to the price I paid for this whisky after being shipped more than 6,000 km from its birthplace.
This methodology does present some other challenges. When my eagle-eyed price watching finds bargains, I tend to pounce with the speed and deftness of a fox hunting mice, resulting in an ever-expanding curation (or problem) of the finest beverages. One box showing up in the mail or shelf? Not an issue. Over a handful at a time? That causes some alarm bells and the inevitable question of: Why do I need more, when I already have enough to last five to seven years at a moderate pace?
The why comes down to the hobby and the chase of flavours, experiences, and chances to share new and interesting things with friends and fellow enthusiasts. My wise beyond her years wife thought this was a chasm of a folly long ago and I’m slowly starting to see her wisdom now that I’ve run out of nooks and crannies to hide my bountiful loot. Seeing as this Port Charlotte is one of my recent ill-gotten gains (is it really ill-gotten if I was smart enough to not overpay?), let’s dive in and see if it is worth my purchase price and the retail price.
Review
Port Charlotte SC:01, Sauternes Cask 9yo, 55.2% ABV
£99-110 in UK CAD$125 paid (£74)
According to Bruichladdich’s website, we know this SC:01 2012 release uses Islay barley for the distillate, a first for the cask exploration series. When it comes to maturation: “A combination of sherry butts and first and second-fill American whiskey barrels were re-casked at different points of maturation into some of the finest Sauternes wine casks from the left bank of the Garonne River in Bordeaux.” Seeking further details, much like the other cask exploration series where percentages and other details are available, I turned to the ‘ole Google machine.
According to Words of Whisky as well as directly from Adam Hannett:
“We had three different parcels of spirit that would culminate in this Port Charlotte SC:01. The first was a parcel of 16 sherry butts that were re-casked into first fill Sauternes, then transferred back into ex-bourbon casks to preserve the balance of the oak, sweet ripe fruit and peat smoke.
“The second parcel transferred second fill bourbon casks into those same Sauternes casks, now a second fill Sauternes to us. […] The third and final parcel took a selection of first and second fill ex-bourbon barrels, re-casked into a different Chateau’s first fill Sauternes casks.”
Did you keep that straight in your head? Suffice to say, it’s a smorgasbord of casks and cask influences.
Nose
It immediately noses like a well-integrated and older whisky. It’s light, sweet, and smoky. Peaches, fruit cups and accompanying syrup, honey, and vanilla. It might be a funny experience, but it smells “warmer” than some of the other Bruichladdich or Port Charlotte releases. I think this is my neurons telling me there is much less of the milky/lactic side, that I often equate to whipped cream and that can be found, in varying degrees, in some Bruichladdich products. It smells more like a warm peach cobbler pie than the vanilla ice cream or whipped cream that may be dolloped on top, if that makes sense.
The peat smoke is light and airy, not shouting at max volume from the glass, but rather playing along in sync with the other flavours. The peat presents itself as a tinder dry peat smoke, if a touch woody like burning dry driftwood. The nose is very intriguing, if a bit shy, leading you to take a sip.
With water, the peat doesn’t pop out, it just linearly declines in intensity. Nothing else, save for a tiny bit of apples, pokes out from under the sweet Sauternes blanket.
Palate
The fruit cup sweetness leads the experience, coating your mouth in a wonderfully sweet and syrupy texture. Ripe apricots, juicy grapes, candied ginger, tinned peaches, white raisins, and sticky honey. Being 55% ABV, there is some prickle to be expected but it is less than you might think, straddling a line between raw ginger and black pepper. Vanilla appears at the transition between the bright fruitiness and peat.
Following the fruitiness, the strong peat builds quickly, coming across as a just doused peat fire (earthy peat) devoid of any medicinal notes (this is mainland peat after all). The finish is medium-short in length, riding the wet peat notes but now accompanied with dry pipe tobacco. After the flavours have subsided, I’m left with a wonderful nondescript sticky and syrupy feel to my tongue and gums making this seem like a longer finish than it actually is. Subsequent whiskies, if had in a flight, will have their work cut out trying to dislodge this PC from your mouth.
The palate is a bit of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde experience, flipping personalities half-way through. First the cordial and sweet doctor, followed by the strong and loud peat monster, before being tamed and reigned again.
With water, the ginger-like spice is tamped down, providing an unobstructed front row seat the Sauternes show featuring a fog machine lightly spewing some peat across the stage, providing a touch of drama. The peaches and apricots strut their stuff while honey and fruit cup syrup anchor the ensemble. I do like that this whisky can handle a good splash of water without falling apart. It makes it more flexible to the drinker depending on their mood or preferences that day.
The Dregs
So back to the TL;DR stated at the outset… what's the caveat? It comes down to the RRP.
Is it worth my purchase price? Absolutely. In fact, this SC:01 is my favourite cask exploration series so far. It’s far more balanced than the PAC:01 I’ve purchased and written about before. And I’ve done my due diligence and poured myself a dram of this 5/10 scoring whisky - a 6 without price consideration - to compare and I arrive at the same conclusion. This Sauternes release is quite good.
Is it worth the retail price? It’s an incredibly dear price, one which is dangerous territory from competition. We are talking much larger age statements, potentially smaller outturns (not knowing the size of this SC:01 of course), or even well-aged or rare cask distillery exclusive special release territory. You could almost go two Springbank/Longrow/Hazelburn cage bottles for the RRP of a single digit aged mainland peated Bruichladdich. I’m not sure how Bruichladdich are intending on selling this whisky but that price does cause a stitch in the side of many a whisky drinker.
As I’ve written before in my Port Charlotte three-way, one must consider the value proposition. The PC10 remains a standout for a quality peated ex-bourbon option. If you’re wanting to explore fortified wine maturation options within the peated Bruichladdich realm, then you’re forced to step up into the significantly pricier and younger cask exploration series. It’s quite the jump, and something that other Islay players, like Ardbeg Uigeadail, are currently providing a much better value proposition. In terms of scoring, I put this SC:01 in line with the 2013 Islay Barley and the core range Port Charlotte 10. They’re all different in their experiences and flavours however they are all very similar in quality of the drinking experience, it just comes down to your preferred maturation profile when picking between them.
In summary: keep this one on your radar. Wait for sale prices, coupons, discounts, offers, or any other manner of price-saving methods. In my opinion, it’s not worth the retail price, but for the roughly 25% discount I paid, it’s worth every penny with a few drops of water, especially if you’re a peat and Sauternes fan.
Edit - I wrote this a month ago. Now I’ve submitted this to the editorial team, it’s back on sale again, likely because it’s not selling at RRP. I’m torn. Should I grab another, or save my pennies for another yet unknown whisky that’ll excite me? Dilemma’s abound.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB