Port Charlotte PAC:01 2011 Single Malt - 56.1% 700ml Whisky

Tasting Notes

Nose –  Lots of fresh, fruit aromas mingle with the dry peat smoke to entice you into the dram, from the oak comes spices – cloves, ginger and cassia, along with chocolate, toasted malt with toffee, brown sugar and delicate coconut and vanilla notes. As you nose again, the fruit notes of both the spirit and wood come together – melon and citrus from the spirit, and dried plum and raisin from the cask. The earthy peat smoke wraps around the fruit and spice and holds everything together, highlighting the wonderful marine and ozone notes that breeze through the dram.

Palate –  As the first drop touches your tongue, a wave of flavours sweep across the palate, the sweetness from the oak and malt lead, followed by the smoke, citrus and dried fruit notes. Another sip helps to order the flavours and you find the oak notes, the dried fruit, marzipan and spice. Caramel and chocolate notes emerge alongside the peat smoke with its earthy richness. A little water opens the citrus fruit and marine elements and brings out a little more of the coconut and vanilla notes from the oak. The structure on the palate is firm and round and balances the depth and flavour of this whisky.

Finish –  The peat smoke comes through on the finish with a more medicinal phenol style. Coconut and floral notes waiver and a saline marine element combine with the earthy smoke in the classic Port Charlotte style. The softness of the oak and the minerality of the spirit become wrapped in smoke, A familiar signature of this dram.