Follow Us:

Blog

Day 15 - KWM 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar - Rest & Be Thankful Port Charlotte 14 Year

Posted on December 15, 2024

Day 15 — Rest & Be Thankful Port Charlotte 14 Year – 57.4%

​

By Evan

I believe today’s bottle represents two firsts for us. This is both the first time we have featured a bottling of Port Charlotte in any of our KWM Whisky Calendars, and also the first time we have featured a whisky from indie bottler Rest & Be Thankful. Today’s dram is a 14-Year-Old single barrel bottling of Port Charlotte from Rest & Be.

That gives me a lot to talk about, and nearly nothing that I can crib or copy from prior years of writing our Whisky Calendar blogs. Brace yourself for some new content!

Port Charlotte is not a distillery – at least it hasn’t been for nearly a century. There was a Port Charlotte Distillery on Islay between 1829 and 1929. It was known alternatively as the Lochindaal Distillery or Lochindaal Distillery Port Charlotte or Rhinns, or Rhins. The name Port Charlotte refers to a heavily peated style of whisky made at Bruichladdich Distillery, which resides only a few kilometres away from the Port Charlotte Distillery site. Some of the original Port Charlotte/Lochindaal warehouses are currently used for aging Bruichladdich whisky stock, as the Bruichladdich purchased the site back in 2007.

Bruichladdich even had plans to rebuild and revive the Port Charlotte distillery, which they announced the same year they purchased the land the former distillery sat on. Unfortunately, an economic downturn and then Bruichladdich’s purchase by Rémy Cointreau in 2012 has not only killed this idea but also buried deep down in peat. It was a quaint notion, though!

So, where is Port Charlotte whisky made? At Bruichladdich, of course. Since Bruichladdich Distillery’s own revival happened, and it reopened in under feisty new management in 2001 after being mothballed in 1995, it has been used two distill a few different types of Single Malt:

  • Bruichladdich – the main spirit which the distillery is known for. It is unpeated in style.
  • Port Charlotte – heavily peated single malt – around 40PPM
  • Lochindaal – slightly more peated than Port Charlotte at around 50 PPM. It was only made for a few years before production of this style was ceased in favour of Port Charlotte single malt.
  • X4 – A no longer made four times distilled single malt that was experimented with for a very brief period. Very little has made its way to bottle, or into the fuel tanks of race cars.
  • Octomore – The most peated whisky, bar none. Ranging from 80 to 300+ PPM, depending on which release we are talking about. This monstrous abomination that is surprisingly drinkable if you like Islay Single Malt has been distilled in small quantities since 2002.

Bruichladdich Distillery is located in the town of the same name on the west side of the island. It is right on the coast of an inlet. Almost directly to the east across the inlet is the town of Bowmore and Bowmore Distillery. It is a 15-minute drive around the inlet, along the coast of Islay to get between the two distilleries. Kilchoman Distillery is a 15-minute drive to the west, inland to where it resides on Rockside Farm.

Rest & Be Thankful is a relatively new label, created a little over a decade ago. The independent bottler of whisky and rum takes its name from a site called the same in Loch Lomond National Park. There also happens to be a mountain peak with the name Rest & Be Thankful in Jamaica. The indie bottler had a bit of a connection to Bruichladdich prior to the distillery being purchased in 2012 by Rémy Cointreau. This is likely why it has able to release more single casks and small batches of Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte than any other bottler around over the past decade.

I could be wrong, but I personally see Rest & Be Thankful as a new version of indie bottler Murray McDavid - or perhaps even its spiritual successor. The company ownership seems to have been involved with Bruichladdich at some point before it was purchased by Rémy Cointreau. The group of investors behind Murray McDavid were the owners of Bruichladdich before that purchase, from what I recall. Indie bottler Murray McDavid is still in operation, but it was sold off after the Bruichladdich sale in 2012 as well. We haven't seen any Murray McDavid bottlings in Canada since.

This specific Rest & Be Thankful Port Charlotte single cask that we will be tasting today is listed as an EU Exclusive on the indie bottler’s own website. I wonder how we managed to get some? Hmm… This 2009 Port Charlotte was matured in an ex-Bourbon Hogshead #1263 for 14 years. It was bottled in July 2023 at a cask strength of 57.4%.

Let’s taste it!

Rest & Be Thankful Port Charlotte 14 Year Single Cask #1263 – 57.4%

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Ahh, the good ole’ Port Charlotte cheese and lactic note is right there. No hiding it. Notes of crisp and roasted cereals, Bran flakes, smoked Gouda, earthy and funky peat moss, peach and pear slices, watermelon rind, and dried apple skins.

Palate: Stewed plums, honeyed lozenges, marzipan, Salty chicken broth, Frosted Flakes cereal, marmalade, Macadamia nuts, slightly burnt shortbread cookies, and a touch of cinnamon mixed with sugar.

Finish: Surprisingly soft smoke with a creamy sweetness that sticks around.

Comment: One of the most approachable and inviting cask strength Port Charlotte’s I can recall tasting. I want to see more PC like this, nearly naked from ex-Bourbon casks instead of drowned in wine and sherry. Delicious stuff!

Andrew's Tasting Note

Nose: salty, farm-y, and malty, with firm ashy smoke… lots of ys there; a hint of ozone, hay bales, and ashy-muddy peat; hints of salted caramel and heather honey; spicy citrus notes. 

Palate: salty, malty, and smoky, with more farm-y tones and tart citrus-y fruits (trying to maximize my y's); duck l'orange, ceviche, and butter poached langoustines drizzled with fresh squeezed lemon; loads of grassy malt, muddy peat, and a flinty minerality; building spices and cheesy notes.

Finish: warm, coating, and malty with fading spices, citrus fruit, and a backbone of smoked cheddar.  

Comment: this rather naked (presuming a refill ex-Bourbon cask) Port Charlotte is an antidote to some of the overly wine-y OBs of recent years; the spirit is in charge here, with the cask merely playing backup; Port Charlotte fans will dig this malty teenager!

Cheers,
Evan

Playing catch-up on our 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar?

You can find the rest of the blog posts here!

 

This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Distillery, Independent Bottler, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM 2024 Not An Advent Calendar Tastings

 

 

Recent Posts
Archives

Categories