I have something to tell you: I love Port Charlotte whisky. When Bruichladdich announced that Octomore 6.2 & PC11 will be travel retail exclusive I was quite disappointed at first but then I found out it’s heading toward our local duty free shop in TLV!
Well, as you can imagine, most of the local peat lovers grabbed a bottle (or two) and even I managed to get part of a bottle (shared with friends) 🙂
Back to the whisky itself – it’s the 7th release in Bruichladdich PC series (started with PC5), it’s heavily peated and in cask strength, so enough words and lets taste it, OK?
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC11 (11 YO, 59,5%, $150 in TLV Airport)
Nose: Hmm, PEAT (doh, you’re not really surprised, right?), no ashes and of the sweet kind. the sherry sweetness points at some PX casks involved here as it’s over-sweet for Oloroso sherry. sweet dried small peppers. Leaving the dram in the glass to open up reveals change in the peat profile – it gets more dirtier and wet, the Bruichladdich lactic note is having a guest appearance, dried fruits but less sweet, so maybe those were Oloroso casks?
Palate: Ashy peat, Sweet, Rich and spicy. Lots of things go on here simultaneously. Love it!
Finish: Long and sweet, barely some oak impact, ashes and peat.
Thoughts: Cracking stuff! At natural strength it’s lovely yet a tad sweet. Few drops of water helps it immensely turning it into an almost perfect dram. Get a bottle if you fly and see it in the duty free shop.
Whisky Gospel 
Great review! I wish the bottles were more affordable here. They’re € 150 in Amsterdam, contrary to the $ 150 elsewhere.
Not to be a nagger, but the PC11 is the 8th release. For Feis Ile 2007 Bruichladdich released a PC 5.5 😉
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bruichladdich-port-charlotte-first-250292269
Well, Bruichladdich website states it’s the 7th release 🙂
Too bad our mutual friend G. is already back from NL or he could fetch you one for $150! We’ll keep you in mind for future trips if you want 🙂
Well, currently that’s a little above budget, especially with all the whisky goodness coming soon. Autumn is always ridiculous in whisky releases, so I’m good.
What/where is the “local duty free shop in TLV”? In general, is there any store in Israel that sells Bruichladdich?
the shop in the airport, called “James Richardson Duty Free”.
There’s no official importer for Bruichladdich in Israel but you do can find the Travel Retail bottlings online for exuberant price and maybe a few bottles were left in that shop.
Thanks Yoav (and kudos for the recent success in the BTC). I hope that one of these babies will remain by the next time I travel abroad. (And let’s hope even harder that we will get an official importer for Bruichladdich in Israel sometime soon.)
Thanks Tom.
We really do need a new importer 🙂