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Port Charlotte

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@Wills
Wills started a discussion

Hi maltheads

I am somehow puzzled by the different PC releases. We know the PC5 to PC10, I first thought they were yearly special releases. Guess this is right because they have those special Gaelic names. But additionally the number stands for the years they were maturing.

But how do these barrels differ from the PC 10 years heavily peated? Well this one isn't a cask strength. But it seems to be a very good peatbomb nonetheless and the pricing is irritating me when you compare it to the PC10 'Tro Na Linntean'.

11 years ago

16 replies

@two_bitcowboy

Hi Wills,

I believe the PC 10 at 46% is intended to be the regular and ongoing release, the peated equivalent of The Laddie Ten so to speak.

What pricing have you seen for it that's so irritating? I thought it was supposed to be about $100 less than the Tro Na Linntean.

11 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Wills
Wills replied

@two-bit-cowboy

For the PC10 I only found this: whiskybase.com/whiskies.php/…

The PC8/9 are going for ~120$ here I guess. The PC 10years is only 40$. I guess it's because of the special and limited range for those PCx releases. I saw a review of the 10years heavily peated and this one seems to be really good too.

But how do they differ despite the ABV. I guess the peat level is similar (around 40ppm). They are both 10yo. Are they from the same casks or do they use better barrels for the PC10?

11 years ago 0

@cowfish
cowfish replied

@Wills The PC10 was a one-off limited edition that's now pretty much sold out everywhere, using some of the earliest PC spirit that they produced. I suspect there are some great casks in the vatting, but that it's only a small outturn (comparitively).

The PC 10 year old is an ongoing release made in (probably) a much larger batch and created with a flavour profile that they will be able to replicate fairly accurately with each vatting.

So, the main two issues that I'd guess set the price are the rarity of the PC10 and the fact that the PC 10yo is going to be a standard ongoing bottle.

The PC10 is a bit of a beast and I preferred it to the less intense PC Peat Project, but have yet to try the 10yo: blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2012/12/…

11 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Wills
Wills replied

Thx guys. I ordered the 10yo heavy peated this morning. Was a sale for 35€ and the review I saw was just amazing. So I bought this bottle which I just know since yesterday instead of the Ardbeg TEN I was planning to buy. I hope this wasn't a fault. Looking really forward to try the stuff :)

11 years ago 1Who liked this?

@two_bitcowboy

@Wills Rarely is buying a whisky a "fault" as you say. Love it, hate it, or in between, you know where you stand with the whisky. At no time in your life will every whisky you taste be better than the last one you drank. It's a pendulum, a roller coaster. To experience the flavors along the way is what this is about. Enjoy!

11 years ago 3Who liked this?

@Wills
Wills replied

@two-bit-cowboy Thx, you are absolutely right. But my wishlist is so long... ;)

11 years ago 0

@Wills
Wills replied

@two-bit-cowboy I got my bottle yesterday and already opened it. Was drinking the evening in comparison to the Uige, because when I first nosed it I was rememberd to this Ardbeg.

Wrote a review about the PC10 here: connosr.com/reviews/port-charlotte/…

Greetings

11 years ago 0

@vanPelt
vanPelt replied

Thank you for asking about this. There's some really confusing nomenclature in the world of whiskies. It's hopefully better when you're shopping, but when we're just browsing reviews it is all too easy to confuse different lines-- and indeed different bottlers! (e.g. there is also a PC8 by "Malts of Scotland".) If only there were pictures, or well-cataloged information somewhere.

10 years ago 0

@vanPelt
vanPelt replied

@two-bit-cowboy Wow, my jaw just dropped a little. Thanks. The number of different whisky bottlings must be 20x what I thought.... The range is just overwhelming. Here's what I really want to know (and probably I should start another Discussion but I'll put it here for now). Who is buying these and why? I would expect people to shop for the PC5-PC11 range, as they are "known" somehow and have decent reviews. Who out there is deciding that his money is better spent on...(let's just choose a random one)... the Cooper's Choice 2001 CC? How are people making that kind of decision, and what am I missing!?

10 years ago 0

@Wills
Wills replied

@vanPelt Guys from connosr do this - Enthusiasts, Afficionados, Whisky lovers. If someone e.g. loves PC they want to try more than the standard releases. If someone likes independent bottlers, they tend to try out those releases too. No one is able to chase everything, but some people try it. I am not saying this is bad or good, everyone has to decide for his own why he wants to buy which bottle and how much he is willing to pay ;)

Have a nice first Sunday in Advent.

10 years ago 0

@PeatyZealot
PeatyZealot replied

They name the limited cask strength in Gaelic and sometimes the name of the regular version is the same in English. Fe: Eorna na Alba means Scottish barley :p So the PC10 can be seen on both the CS as well as the 46% But... the PC11 in regular version is not called PC11 but just Scottish Barley Weird

10 years ago 0

@vanPelt
vanPelt replied

Thanks @Wills , But what does it mean to "like independent bottlers"? You mean some people generally prefer independent bottlers to the distilleries' releases? And if people want "more than the standard releases", does it mean they have tried all the distillery's products and then move on? With hundreds of distilleries, I would think it would be more interesting to look at different distilleries instead of new bottlers. For example, I might think that after the Port Charlottes I could move to something like e.g. Ballechin (which I have not tried). There are probably many different answers to this, but I guess I'm mostly interested in what customer preferences are able to make independent bottling a profitable business.

@PeatyZealot Does this mean that the "Heavily Peated" label/range is just a watered-down version of the PC range? I thought they must be different products altogether, but I have also been confused by this.

10 years ago 0

@two_bitcowboy

@vanPelt I can only give you my palate's answer to your question: "...what does it mean to "like independent bottlers"?

My latest IB acquisition is the Creative Whisky Company's Exclusive Malts Dalmore 13 yo 2000 vintage. It's not chillfiltered, has no coloring added, and is bottled at cask strength (53.5%). It's about $30 more than the official bottling of Dalmore 12. You can't buy an OB Dalmore that's this good at anywhere near this price.

Generally speaking the IB prices are less than their OB equivalents. I recently had a Highland Park 25 yo from the Signatory Cask Strength collection that went for $180 (again, not chllfiltered, no color added, cask strength, and delicious). The OB Highland Park 25 is upwards of $325 and somewhat blah by comparison.

I don't want to leave you with the impression that I think every IB is better than its equivalent OB. Not all are. Sometimes you get a dud, but there are lots of dud OBs too.

In an attempt to take this back to your original post, I was lucky enough to attend a Scotch Malt Whisky Society dinner and whisky pairing last year. One of the SMWS-bottled whiskies was a Port Charlotte 8 yo that was bottled at 66.3%. It blew away every other Port Charlotte I've tasted. One man's view.

10 years ago 0

@sengjc
sengjc replied

I have seen the An Turas Mor and Peat Project variants too for sale in Australia. Not sure if they are region specific.

Have a couple of bottles of the PC6 - one comes in "the engineers" can and another comes in the...can't remember..."malt shoveler person" (??). Both were purchased, probably about 4-5 years ago.

Anyway, I can't believe how much the asking price for these releases have risen to! I daren't crack a bottle open.

10 years ago 0

@PeatyZealot
PeatyZealot replied

@vanPelt I get the idea that they are 'just' that. I think the PC8 turned out to be the Peat Project PC9 became the Anturasmor PC10 became pc10 heavily peated PC11 became the Scottish barley

They roll out a small batch of CS for the collectors, after that they give it to us consumers:)

10 years ago 0

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