Port Charlotte Valinch 2003 Aged 14 Years

Style: Sweet and Smoky

Rating: ☆☆ [Highly Recommended]

Nose:

Full frontal heavy smokescreen, anchovy, iodine and crisp seaweed enveloping a rather delicate and pure pear-apricots at the core. Brilliant. Squid ink and roasted barley taking a hint of black coffee. White balsamic vinegar converges at a focal point creates a dynamic flow of elements. Braised scallop skirt, a few drops of rose water to levitate it, kombu dashi, pickled lemon, rosemary and peppermint popping up at the back to give a very nuanced and complex end to it.

Palate:

The smoke curtain has been lifted up slightly and the fruits are much more visible now. Citrus and apricots radiating as much as they could while the peat smoke tints and fuses nicely with the sweetness. Mandarins, assorted tropical fruits building around the malt and boiling very softly. Exquisite pear drops, somehow transcending to Sakura green tea overtone, impressive. Matcha white chocolate flaming ton lightly dressed with rose petals at the end.

Finish:

Finally bourbon fruits finally in a more naked form, a very comfortable herbal edge. A mix of white and dark chocolate to finish.

Thoughts:

Boy, young Port Charlotte (Okay, not exactly young by Port Charlotte standards) can be excellent and this is one simply brilliant. The bourbon cask unlocks the pristine, graceful fruitiness of the distillate and makes it shine like a pearl in the midst of shrouding peat smoke. So vibrant but also elegant. While the complexity develops healthily with a sustainable strength. Peak Charlotte maybe? Freaking fabulous drop.

[56.8% | Distillery Bottling | 2003 Distilled | 2018 Bottled | Single Cask | 113 of 323 Bottles | Cask Number: 917 | Bourbon Barrel | Cask Strength | **]

Originally published on Instagram