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Port Charlotte PC6

Average score from 6 reviews and 13 ratings 89

Port Charlotte PC6

Product details

  • Brand: Port Charlotte
  • Bottler: Distillery Bottling
  • ABV: 61.6%
  • Age: 6 year old
  • Vintage: 2001
  • Bottled: 2007
  • Bottles: 18000

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R
Port Charlotte PC6

I was pretty hard on PC6 a few months ago, and it has improved noticeably in the bottle with time and air. Here is my new amended sentiments:

Nose: Sea salt, musty books, autumn leaves, sugar in the raw, distant malt. This reminds me of my grandmother's muslin curtains in Seaside Oregon. I miss her. She was such a nice person. Gone now. I dedicate this review to her!

Palate: Raw power, taste explosion, pleasingly sour malt, salt, peat,

Finish: lingering malt, warm goodness, burning wet logs, sea air.

A touch of the "Longrow" nose is still there. The Longrow-style palate is all but gone now, and I'm glad. As much as I like Longrow, it doesn't belong in a glass of PC6, IMO. Yes, I know this whisky is young, but still. . . .

PC6 AND PC7 SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISION I have compared the PC6 and the PC7 side by side. They both have their advantages. My friend, Ron, prefers the PC7. He says it's more caramelly. Well, I'm not so sure now. The noses are fairly similar to me. The palates are not. The finishes are not. The PC6 is more complex and more demanding.

The PC7 is strong but the 6 is stronger in terms of bombast. In a way, the 7 seems more powerful until one really compares the two side by side. The 6 has more gravitas. And I'm not merely saying that because "you know who" gave it such a high rating. I have one more bottle of the PC6 (unopened) and I will not part with it for anything now. Sorry, folks, you missed your chance. I would have traded it once, but no longer. . . .

Yes, Victor, you are quite right. My enthusiasm is obvious for the PC6 and my lack thereof (for An Cnoc 12) is apparently also noticeable ; ) It's great to hear your impressions of my reviews. I'm having fun doing them!

@rigmorole, I find your youtube reviews to be very entertaining. Thank you. Somehow your level of enthusiasm was far greater in your review of the PC6 than it was for the An Cnoc 12. Perhaps because you liked the PC6 much more than you liked the An Cnoc 12.

R

Smells like Longrow. Don't lose any sleep if it is hard to obtain. Overrated. I now own two bottles of it and regret going to the trouble of obtaining them.

vanPelt: It's actually better today. I was a little buzzed when I hastily hammered out the "review" late last night. The bottle needed air and it's better already. I would say it actually reminds me quite a bit of the Laphroaig cask strength 003 but with a longer finish. I uppped the score to 90 and I apologize if I disparaged Jim Murray (not that he cares since I'm just a "nobody"). I like the PC6. Have tried the PC7. It's very different from the 6. Surprisingly different. Not sure how it's so different. I like them both. The 7 is more caramelly perhaps but also more strong. It reminds me of the Iliac (young Lagavulin) I tasted at my friend's house. I am warming up to the PC6. Have not tried the PC8 but I own a bottle. Not interested in the PC10 unless at cask strength, which is too expensive, IMHO. I'm quite keen on trying my PC8. Wish I had two bottles. Just couldn't justify that without tasting it first and then got sidetracked. Found two bottles of PC6 on a fluke.

The thing I've learned about appreciating whisk(e)y is to try it under different conditions. I've said a lot of things I've regretted. The fact that you now think you acted hastily says volumes about your character (all good, BTW.). Keep calm and drink more Scotch (or any other whisk(e)y you may prefer.).

@markjedi1

Port Charlotte isn't a distillery on Islay, although it did exist once. Founded by Colin Campbell in 1829, she was closed in 1929. Previously she was also known as Lochindaal Distillery. In 2007, Bruichladdich announced plans to re-open the distillery, but the financial crisis made them think again. So far, it hasn't happened. What has happened is production, marketing and release of several whiskies under the Port Charlotte label. This PC6, distilled in 2001 and bottled in 2007, is one of those, finished on Madeira wine casks.

The nose on this PC6 is very creamy, almost fatty. A lot of smoke, cod liver oil and rubber. A new leather sofa. A whiff of cowhide. Right behind that, quite a bit of lemon, pear and apricots (must be the wine cask). Adding water makes it fruitier, but also very farmy. Special. I think it has to grow on you. I'm still in doubt myself.

The attack if very hot with black pepper and a truckload of smoke and peat. Nothing much else, that's how powerful the alcohol is. So let's add some water. Pear to the fore, but still very peaty.

The finish is lingering, warm and fruity with... dried plums? Silt at the death.

Wow, this is a feisty beast, with it's peat level of 40ppm. Oh, by the way : Cuairt-Beatha is Gaelic for 'the walk of life'. Think Mark Reynier is a Straits fan?

Hey Mark,

I picked up a bottle of the PC 7 recently and thought it was so good, I went back for a reserve bottle when the time is right. I have a shop near by that has one bottle of PC6 for $125 which is quite a bit more than I paid for the PC 7. Wondering how you thought they compared and if it's a must try. You scores are not so impressive on this but I notice you tend to score lower than most. Anyway, looking for any thoughts you might have. Thanks, Chad

Hey Indynoir: my tasting notes for the PC7 are on here somewhere as well. If memory serves, I scored that one 84, so I prefer the 6, it would seem.

@scotchpro1

A non-chill filtered, cask-strength beauty Nose: smoke/peat, sweet, full, malty Palate: sherry, smoky, malty, slightly hot Palate with H2O: floral Rate: 90-95 WOW!

To me quite different from the PC7

I agree with your comment about PC6 being quite different from PC7. What a difference a year makes. (For those who don't know, the PC series is the same batch of whisky that was released four straight years - at 5,6,7 and 8 years old. Hence the PC5, PC6, PC7 and PC8.) I was fortunate to own both PC6 & PC7 at the same time and taste them side-by-side. While I like them both, they are different and I prefer the PC6. (I just purchased a second bottle of PC6 yesterday.) I wish I could find PC5 and PC8...

@WhiskyNotes

Nose: less fresh than the 3D3. More smoke, less lemon. The PC6 has a more buttery smell, with notes of mashed potato. Also slightly rubbery and fishy. A lot of peat of course. Charcoal. Wet wool. Some sweeter, fruity notes (apricot and pear), although hard to discover. Anise and burnt vanilla. When you go back to the 3D3, it’s clear that both are playing in the same league, but the 3D3 is a lot fresher, with more apple and lemon notes. The PC6 is a bit flatter, warmer and deeper. Mouth: hot attack, on pepper and smoke. Very peaty. Again some rubber. Some pear and mint if you dig a little deeper. Less sweet than the 3D3, more intense and smokey (even when brought down to the same alcohol level). Finish: rather creamy with light notes of fruit. A small pinch of salt.

I've recently aquired the PC8 and will be reviewing it soon. I've tasted it and it's brilliant. Bu then again I' am a peatlover

@drjohnhawkins

An interesting Islay this one - peaty but very sweet. Not so much a typical sherried type of sweetness (I assume this is the influence of the Madeira casks?) but more reminiscent of vanilla sponge cake sweetness. Cupcakes or fairy cakes? A hint of fudge perhaps? With water a lot of the sweetness goes, giving way to white wine notes.

I much preferred it undiluted. It's a rich, well rounded and very enjoyable malt.

I am familiar with the PC 6 - one of the finest memorys of my Islay-trip. The PC 6 (from the Bruichladdich distillery, not from the long-time-ago-closed Port Charlotte distillery) is a heavy peated (up to 60 ppm) pearl of what Islay stands for. When you wake up the morning after, your mounth is still filled with peat, smoke and leather ! Fir Jim Murray, the PC 6 is a peat-orgasm. Bruichladdich also produces the even more peated Octomore-serie (80 ppm), if you dare ... After a dram of PC 6, even the Ardbeg 10 y tastes like a very light whisky. A very interesting experiment, because the Ardbeg thereveals a scala of tastes and flavours that was unknown before, i.e. hidden by the peat ! And this again brings new appreciations for the Ardbeg.

I may be missing the point here with these massive peated drams but, like with the Supernova, arn't these whiskies just being a bit laddish going for overwhelming Peat for the sake of it? I've not had the PC6 but I don't imagine it being all that different from the 5 and 8 which I have had. Also not diluting a 60% whisky will rip your mouth to bits, like a over spiced curry leaving you tasting nothing but chilli etc. I did like the comment by Jonas regarding the morning after, I'm not sure how I would find waking up with Peat in my mouth but each to their own.

The Captain.

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