Port Charlotte's An Turas Mor

It's been a while since I last posted. There are many reason for that (some good, some not so good), including my campaign to lose weight by, among other things, drinking less frequently during the week (with varying degrees of success). Anyway, enough of all that, because I have a backlog of spirits to update you about, starting with this peaked whisky from Bruichladdich, which is bottled under the Port Charlotte moniker. The bottle is interesting because it has a milky haze to its straw-gold color, which probably indicates it is not chill-filtered. The nose has some of the signature smoke and campfire. I have tried some Port Charlotte from independent bottlers at full cask strength that have much stronger nose to them, but this official distillery bottle comes in at 46% alcohol by volume, which probably accounts for the softer nose.

The nose continues with spice and chili pepper, rounded out with a slight floral honey. I think I get a little tiny bit of plastic or test-tube, but that could simply be my mind playing tricks on me. Unadulterated, the taste is spicy with some tannic, nut-like qualities. The finish is fiery and long. A very pleasant drink without water, though. One could leave it alone as is.

With water, the whisky calms down a bit more and the grainy, biscuity-ness comes out (reminds me of the Glengoyne 17 year old, actually, but that may be because I recently finished off a bottle of that). Otherwise I get spring flowers and not much else. The nose has become muted, even with just a smudge of water. The taste is less fiery now, more rounded, but still quite spicy on the finish and definitely long-lasting. All-in-all, an accomplished whisky, but I think a cask-strength bottling is your better bet if you can find one.