Whisky: Port Charlotte 16 Year (2005), Thompson Brothers

Country/Region: Scotland/Islay

ABV: 57.2%

Cask: First Fill Bourbon Barrel

Age: 16 Years (Distilled 2005, Bottled 2022)

Nose: Maritime with mellow smoke, citrus, miso, vanilla, apples, more subtle caramel and streusel.

Palate: Medium-bodied and crispy, apples, nectarines, vanilla, cream, streusel, more subtle maritime with salt, musty barn, and tar.

Finish: Medium-length with orange, cream, and salt.

Score: 6

Mental Image: Cottager’s Autumn Cobbler

Narrative & Notes: Maritime delights swam into view with dried kelp and smoked nori while a spritz of lemon accompanied fresh muscles and miso paste. Vanilla pods and baked apples ran under the salty top layer with hints of buttery caramel and streusel crumb-topped cobbler. Medium-bodied, the flavor profile was crisp and vivacious with an upfront fruitiness and a more subtle maritime layer lying deeper. Apples and nectarines arrived with cured vanilla bean pods, a dash of ice cream, and a sweet cinnamon streusel topping: a perfect autumn cobbler. A more subtle maritime profile seemed to float underneath and appeared on the finish with salt, a subtle musty barn, and hints of tar. The finish was medium-length with orange, cream, and salt.

The aroma was classically Port Charlotte, albeit a bit less funky than I typically prefer, but the palate felt as if it had just slid in from another distillery entirely. When I poured a bit for my wife, she first remarked on how much she enjoyed the nose and how much it reminded her of Ledaig. After the first sip, she cried out in disappointment— apples! She rarely enjoys apple notes on a whisky, and could not understand where the roasty maritime notes of the nose had disappeared off to.

Overall, single-cask and independently bottled Port Charlotte are treats to encounter— treats that continue to become rarer as the number of casks the distillery sold to private entities declined even before the sale to Rémy Cointreau in 2012, after which it essentially ended. Port Charlotte is one of my favorite Islay labels, so I might have scored this a bit harder than I would something else.