Tasting: Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 2007 CC:01 8 yo

Dram data:
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: original bottling
Distilled: 03.10.2007
Bottled: 21.01.2016
Age: 8 years
Limitation: –
Casks: French oak ex-cognac casks
Alcohol: 57,7%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: gold
The nose immediately met by a fragrant spicy-peaty mixture with a slight alcoholic note on top. Peaty bonfire smoke meets salted herrings, green apples, lemon and grapefruit peel, lemon and tangerine juice, with cinnamon, allspice and one clove on top. Quite fresh yet with loads going on thanks to the spicy French oak – and perhaps a hint of what was in the cask before…  The palate opens rich, oily and full yet staying true to the light-ish profile of signature Bruichladdich citrus fruits accompanied by apricots, fragrant and well-integrated peat smoke, and a “dark depth” of a spice mixture underneath. Quite a bit nippy – but no wonder at 57,8%, it takes quite a bit of water without losing anything. With water: Even oilier  (smacking my lips here) with more pronounced fruitiness of ripe apricots and perhaps a hint of thick grape juice. The pronounced rich thick background aromas with honey, cask spices (cinnamon, allspice, vanilla) and a touch of very pleasant oak aroma is omnipresent. Very well married together indeed! The long finish is rich, oily, peaty and sweet right upon swallowing with fruitiness and sweetness emerging just afterwards, staying for quite a while blending into a mix of cask spices and peat towards the end – a very pleasant and mooreish progression!

Verdict:
Oh-ho! This is very much to my liking! I feared this might’ve been overtaken by too much of a Cognac-ey style or too much French oak, but nope, this works very well indeed! A light, young citrussy Bruichladdich distillate from heavily peated “Port Charlotte” type malt married beautifully with rich, fruity, spicy influences from the French oak casks. Yep, works very well indeed – and even better with a liberal splash of water.

Score: 87/100
(Nose: 86 Palate: 87 Finish: 87)

Thanks to Bruichladdich for the sample!

//edit: Thanks to John for pointing out the error in the whisky’s age – it’s actually 8 years old, not 7!