Port Charlotte relaunches
Bruichladdich Distillery have announced the relaunch of Port Charlotte, their heavily-peated Islay single malt Scotch whisky. It will unveil a new range in distinctive new packaging this summer.
The style of the spirit will remain unchanged, peated at 40ppm, the distillery will release four new products in 2018.
The new Port Charlotte 10 Aged Years
Port Charlotte 10 will become the first permanent release under this brand, bottled at 50%, using 100% Scottish barley from Invernesshire region. It will be a vat of 65% First Fill American Oak casks, 10% Second Fill American Oak casks and 25% Second Fill French Wine Casks.
A new vintage of Port Charlotte Islay barley will also join the line-up. Drawn from their salt-soaked loch side warehouses, the 2011 vintage is distilled from harvests on three Islay farms; by Raymond Fletcher at Dunlossit, Raymond Stewart at Sunderland and Neil McLellan at Kilchiaran.
The new Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2011
Bruichladdich’s Director of Distilling and Head of Operations, Allan Logan, is now working in partnership with 17 farmers across the island, all of which grow malting barley exclusively for the distillery, despite the challenges of the Islay climate. This 2011 vintage is the second heavily-peated offering from their uber-provenance “Islay barley” stable.
Concluding the quartet are two cask exploration, cask strength, limited editions. One each for domestic and travel retail. Drawing from a suite of over 200 cask types, Head Distiller Adam Hannett has hand selected casks which demonstrate the versatility and elegance of the Port Charlotte distillate.
New Travel Retail Exclusives
Joining Port Charlotte 10 and the 2011 Islay Barley for domestic markets, is the codified and limited Port Charlotte MRC: 01. Distilled from Scottish barley in 2010, MRC:01 is matured in the French oak casks from the Bordeaux left bank. Bottled at 59.2%, Hannett describes it as a superb combination of fruit-laden French oak, strong peat smoke and Islay maturation.
Releasing at the same time but exclusively for travel retail, is the codified and limited MC:01. This 2009 vintage was distilled from Scottish barley and matured in Marsala casks to impart a balanced fruitiness to the smoky spirit.
Both MRC:01 and MC:01 will be released in the autumn of 2018.
New PackagingAll four spirits will be introduced in a landmark bespoke bottle. The opaque green glass is a nod to the heavily-peated “Islay” category, whilst the modernist design clearly reflects the progressive values of the distillery.
On their philosophy, bold statements are made of being the first major distiller to conceive, distil, mature and bottle on the island. Hannett explains the distillery’s approach: “There’s nothing made up here. There are no tall tales of illicit distillation or local legends. This is about the actual provenance of the spirit in the bottle.”
Bruichladdich Distillery CEO Douglas Taylor further clarifies “Our distillery project is built around certain key principles which drive everything we do. The authenticity, provenance and transparency of our spirit is paramount. We are committed to source 100% of our barley from Scotland, 33% of which is now grown on Islay. We have reintroduced ancient varietals and experimented with regionality for texture and flavour. All our whiskies are conceived, distilled, matured and bottled on Islay, unchill-filtered and colouring free, using Islay spring water.
“We are committed to our community. We aim to be Islay-centric in everything we do and care about the positive economic and social impact our business has on the island. Over time we have become the biggest private employer on Islay; made possible because we are mature and bottle all our whiskies here. This vision has resulted in direct employment for 76 people at the distillery, with countless more involved through partnerships.”
WhiskNick 