Port Charlotte - First Bottling

An emotional moment for all when the first bottling  of Port Charlotte -  the new heavily peated Islay single malt  - ran down the line on Monday 23rd October. First distilled in May 2001, the 5 year old whisky has surprised many by it’s extraordinary quality and apparent maturity. The creaminess and beguiling fruit mean that the whopping 63.5% alcohol of this first bottling is not at all apparent.

The first entirely new Islay whisky has been launched - the re-awakening of the long-lost soul of an extinct distillery. A great moment in the History of Bruichladdich.

‘PC5 Evolution’ is the first ever release of Port Charlotte single malt whisky, the heavily peated whisky that is distilled, matured and bottled at Bruichladdich on the Isle of Islay.

It is the first single malt to be released that we distilled in 2001 following the renovation of the distillery. It is indeed a proud moment for all of us here.

From records we know that Bruichladdich spirit was influenced by peat - to some degree at least - before 1961. We wanted to see what the 1881 whisky was like. We called it Port Charlotte to differentiate it from Bruichladdich which is minimally peated.

At the same time, it is paying homage, a doffing of the cap, to the old Port Charlotte distillery two miles down the road that closed owing to Prohibition in 1929.

The old distillery in Port Charlotte, according to recently discovered records from 1887 stated: “peat only is used in drying the malt, fired in open chauffeurs”.

The last known bottle tasted was in 1963, part of privately-owned stash of Alexander Grant then owner of Bruichladdich to celebrate a new boiler installation.

In a strange twist of fate, the PC5 Evolution release also coincides with a new boiler installation albeit 43 years later.

Ruraidh McLeod, then a distillery mashman, amazingly can remember what it tasted like. At 85 years old, he is the last man alive to have tasted the original Port Charlotte whisky:

“We were called together to try it. It was a special event that called for a rare bottle. Sure enough it was very, very peaty; but it was as smooth as velvet.”

The Port Charlotte single malt of today was distilled with barley peated to 40 PPM (parts per million of phenols) making it one of the most peaty whiskies on the island.

It was the result of an incredibly slow ‘trickle distillation’ a specialty of Master Distiller Jim McEwan “to achieve maximum purity, flavour and texture”.

We had no intention, or indeed necessity, to bottle at this age. But we are immensely proud of the quality of the first whisky we made ourselves. Sure it’s a little tease though.

It’s  a work in progress, an evolution, and if it continues to develop like this, well... there are only 1000 cases for the world – and that is four times over subscribed - but it’s a landmark for Islay and Bruichladdich.

It is bottled at an unusually high cask strength of 63.5% as the initial filling strength five years ago was 71% - more than the standard  industry strength.

And how does PC5 Evolution compare with the old? Ruaridh McLeod notes: “It has the same peatiness right enough, right enough. Och, its just as smooth as cow’s milk…

Professor Walter Schobert, the first author and whisky expert to taste the new whisky:

“It´s always moving when a silent distillery comes back and I knew it was a great moment when Bruichladdich, my local distillery, was reopened on the 29th of May 2001 and the first spirit came from the spirit still.”

“But looking back I realise that this day was much more then that: it was a turning point and it gave a whole island a new life. Since that very day our island is thriving, full of optimism and many a dream became reality: new businesses, new enterprises, new houses wherever to look, people no longer leaving but coming back to Islay.”

“And now, five years on, the whisky is ready to drink – and what a whisky, an Islay malt by birth and an Islay malt by character.”

“First you get the peat, the wonderful, beloved aroma, then you feel, that this is a whisky without edges, but well balanced and you have a beautiful and exciting harmony between the floral notes for which one loves Bruichladdich, a tempting sweetness, and surpringly fruity flavours.

“The parents can be proud of the new child. And I´m proud too. Because I was there when it was made.”

A new Islay whisky - or is that ‘reincarnation’? – is born. Full-throttle peat, but with out the medicine. Living up to such an illustrious memory, it brings a sparkle to an old man’s eye.

As Jim reflected: “the love you have for an adopted child can never be the same as that for your own child – your own flesh and blood”.

PC5 is distilled and bottled at Bruichladdich Distillery – and matured at Port Charlotte warehouses, Islay

Jim McEwan is three times winner of Distiller of the Year with over 40 years experience

Bruichladdich Distillery distils predominantly unpeated barleys from individual Scottish farms, with organically grown Scottish barley

PC5 Evolution dramatic design uses a colour palate that reflects the shoreline lichens at Port Charlotte reinforcing both the natural whisky (un-coloured, non chill-filtered) and the maritime location and marine influence of the Atlantic Ocean.

Bruichladdich is a privately owned Independent distillery entirely run and managed on Islay employing 42 local people – the biggest private sector employer.

Click here to see the information sheet