Port Charlotte 18 Year, Dramfool “Jim McEwan Journey’s End #2”
Whisky: Port Charlotte 18 Year, Dramfool “Jim McEwan Journey’s End #2”
Country/Region: Scotland/Islay
ABV: 58.3%
Cask: First Fill Bourbon Barrel
Age: 18 Year (Distilled 16 July 2003, Bottled 2021)
Nose: Maritime, creamy, and herbal. The classic Laddie lactic funk proffered a nod of the cap before subtle notes of dried beach grass, sand, and slate-colored seas left me adrift in sweet-salty memories. Salty tanned leather, iodine swabs, beach dunes, and a salt-crusted shipwreck occasionally parted to reveal café au lait and malty vanilla and chocolate.
Palate: Full-bodied and coastal with malt, creamy butter, fruit, and grass notes. An initial wave of salty minerality brought to mind seashell collecting on the beach with cold slate-colored water lapping at my feet. A breeze blew in with leather, heather, and dried beach grass complimented by engine grease and shrimp. Memories of an overcast beach breakfast; creamy yogurt and berries, coffee or café au lait, and creamy vanilla-chocolate malt. A few drops of water brought out salted butter, lobster tails, and stewed fruits. Rich, harmonious, and heavy with nostalgia.
Finish: Lingering notes of shoreline minerals, heather, and salted butter.
Score: 10
Mental Image: Pirate’s Trove of Golden Memories
Notes: I know not where to begin with this dram. Sweet nostalgia for days when life was simpler? Hunting pirate treasure across the dunes, watching airshows on the coast, or the mishmash of Dad’s coffee and instant chocolate malt mix which heralded the start of a day on the beach? Perhaps something more functional–– this was one of the best Port Charlotte I have ever tried. It was a 9/10 in the flavor department and the delicious nostalgia it provoked carried it to the top. I would absolutely put it on par with the only other 10 I have given to a Port Charlotte, though I might give this the nod as the unbidden memories it surfaced were of a sweeter nature.
Had I tried this dram blind, I believe I would have thought it matured in a refill sherry cask of some kind. Leather, coffee, and berries all sound like sherry notes to me, and the leather aroma even drifted toward a sherry-funk adjacent notion. I adored the complex interplay between maritime and herbal notes as they transitioned toward coffee and chocolatey-creamy malt. The dram had incredible legs in the glass, a full-bodied oily mouthfeel, and a long finish.
I am far removed from Proust or Jean de Léry, so I will avoid an overly wrought-out discourse on involuntary or unbidden memory. Allow me only to add that my favorite drams are the ones that pluck you out of your seat and drop you amid a scene long forgotten.
