Port Charlotte MP8 Whisky Tasting @ Saro Lounge
If you enjoy smoky whisky, Port Charlotte is a name worth knowing. In December 2019, I joined a tasting of the Port Charlotte Micro-Provenance MP8 series at Saro Lounge, and it was a great introduction to how much flavour can change from one cask to the next.
What Is Port Charlotte?
Port Charlotte is the heavily peated whisky made by Bruichladdich on the Scottish island of Islay. It is named after an old distillery on the island that closed long ago; Bruichladdich bought its remaining buildings with the hope of making whisky there again one day.
The MP8 tasting kit comes with three 200ml single-cask bottlings, all distilled from Islay-grown barley and peated to 40ppm. We started with some light refreshments before brand ambassador Chloe Wood of Bruichladdich guided us through each cask.
The Three Casks
Port Charlotte 1860 – the gentlest of the three, with crème brûlée and creamy vanilla notes.
Port Charlotte 3403 – tobacco-led smoke with plenty of cloves and a hint of cranberries and blackberries.
Port Charlotte 3582 – my favourite, with a long finish that balances smoke and sweetness. It gave me a real Christmassy feeling, with a lovely spiciness at the end.
Whisky and Chocolate
The tasting ended with a chocolate pairing. Like whisky, chocolate is made from a few simple ingredients that produce a huge range of flavours, so the two work well together. We had smooth, silky chocolate infused with gula Melaka, and homemade ice cream made with cocoa beans, which was really smooth.
Final Thoughts
All in all, it was an excellent tasting. Trying three casks side by side is the best way to understand how cask and barley shape a whisky, and the chocolate pairing was a sweet way to end the night.
