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Smoking the Competition: Port Charlotte 10 Wins Whisky of The Year 2021

Brand Ambassador, Billy Abbott, gives us the lowdown on the winning liquid of The Whisky Exchange’s Whisky of the Year 2021

Port Charlotte 10 has triumphed in The Whisky Exchange’s annual tasting, taking the top spot in the only official blind whisky judging undertaken by members of the public. If you ask us, it’s easy to see why. This 10-year-old expression from Bruichladdich is a heavily-peated, rich and spicy dram that truly sings of its Islay provenance. 

Suffice it to say; we’re big fans. We don’t expect you to take our word for it though. So we’ve enlisted a little expert advice from Brand Ambassador, Billy Abbott, to help us sound more savvy than we really are. If anyone needs us, we’ll be nursing a wee dram of good stuff. Take it away, Billy.

The Whisky Exchange’s Billy Abbott & Dawn Davies MW

First off, can you tell us a little about the victor? What’s the story with Port Charlotte 10?
It’s one of the three whiskies made at Bruichladdich. Their eponymous dram isn’t smoky at all, while Port Charlotte is very peaty, and Octomore is the smokiest whisky out there, at least on paper. When Bruichladdich reopened in 2000, they made unpeated whisky, whereas most distilleries on Islay – the island where the distillery is – are famous for smoky spirit. They soon added this smoky variant to their portfolio, naming it after the next town along the coast, where there used to be a distillery of the same name. To complete the set, Octomore is named after a nearby farm and is really, really smoky.

Were you surprised to see an Islay take the top spot this year?
Yes and no. While smoky whisky is really popular and we always have a few in our shortlist, not everyone likes peat and the different styles of smokiness can be divisive. We do a ranked-choice vote, letting people tell us their first and second choice, which often leads to a non-peated whisky pulling ahead, as lots of the peat fans choose one as their second choice. This year things were very close again, but the Port Charlotte took the prize – lots of folks who chose an unpeated whisky chose it as their second choice, keeping it in first place all the way through the counting.

A lot of people are a little intimidated by peated whisky, how would you ease someone into it?
Firstly, not liking smoky drams is not something to be worried about – there are loads of great unpeated whiskies out there, so not liking peat isn’t going to stop you enjoying whisky. But if you want to introduce some peat, then I find going big or building up are the best ways. So, grab a bottle of Port Charlotte 10, and blast your senses with it with your first dram. Every time you go back to it, you’ll find something else, and as you get used to the unfamiliar taste of peat smoke, it’ll just become yet another flavour in your whisky. 

If you’re not a fan of the kill-or-cure method, then there are lots of more lightly peated whiskies out there. If you want something light and fresh, then Talisker 10 is a great place to start. If you like things a bit weightier, then Benromach 15 is a great dram – and it was our Whisky of the Year 2020. If those are too much for you smoke-wise, then look to Highland Park. They use about 25% Orkney-peated barley in their whiskies, giving a light and heathery smoky flavour that can slowly introduce you to peat without it overpowering your dram.

What’s your own favourite way to drink Port Charlotte?
At the distillery, during the Islay Festival, from a paper cup, while waiting in the queue for the late, great Carl Reavey’s burger van – he ran the nearby Port Charlotte hotel and did the burgers at the distillery open day during the festival for years, before going on to work at the distillery as communications director. However, as that’s impossible without a time machine, I generally like to drink it from a chunky tumbler – it’s not a dainty whisky, and my weighty crystal tumbler gives me a satisfying face-full of smoke every time I bring the glass to my lips. The whisky can stand up to an ice cube, and gets a bit lighter and zippier as it chills, but I prefer it neat and full on – a big smack of sea-breeze and Islay charm.

www.thewhiskyexchange.com/whiskyoftheyear