Whisky : Port Charlotte First Cut Fèis Ìle 2007

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 61.5%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon (bottle 195 of 950)

Age : 5 Years (Distilled May 28, 2001, Bottled May 27, 2007)

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Peat Whisky Preview

Nose : Walking into a barnyard— animals, decaying vegetation, and manure.  Grassy clovers and burning cow paddies take us out into the fields.  It is the faintly sweet smell of rotting vegetation and the earthiness of dung.

Palate :  As if someone bottled and distilled the air at an animal show.  Sweaty horse, sweet dry grass, and manure come tumbling out.  Smoke off hot coals along with sweeter florals of lilies, wildflowers, and clover honey.  The decay off the nose makes itself present in on the palate as a lovely, almost salty, pond scum.

Finish :  Long and lingering, the oily body leaves behind rotting vegetation and chocolate cake.

Score : 9

Mental Image : Wandering through the animal pens besides the shows and auctions at county fair.

Something Similar : Port Charlotte 13Y Rest & Be Thankful (similar earthy manure and burning dung)

Something Worse : Port Charlotte Islay Barley (less intense, less earth, some barn notes, bit sweeter)

Notes :  I was handed this bottle by someone who jokingly exclaimed that I was sure to give an F— a dig by friend who disagreed in the strongest terms with my grading of Octomore 8.3 (I gave it a C and even after retrying it, I stand by my grade).

If this gets an F, its only because it stands for ‘Flipping Amazing’ (or insert the obvious stronger language there for a stronger exclamation).  This was absolutely outstanding combining beautiful notes of barnyard animals and earthy decay.  These notes bring back childhood memories and sweet nostalgia.  I am constantly amazed by the quality that comes from Bruichladdich’s Port Charlotte range— clearly this pattern of excellence began with the first spirit to come off the stills— and could perhaps only be the result of the great results already achieved by Bruichladdich with their namesake spirit.

This was an absolutely stellar example of the sort of complexity and depth that can be found in younger casks.   One barely notices that this malt is only a day shy of six years in the cask for the quality of its flavor profile and the ease with which it drinks.