PC5 Evolution is bottled at an unusually high cask strength of 63.5% as the initial filling strength five years ago was 71% - more than the standard industry strength. Only a thousand cases are being produced, which means the price will be eye-wateringly high.
At 85 years old, islander Ruraidh McLeod, then a distillery mashman, is the last man alive to have tasted the original Port Charlotte whisky: “I remember it well; we were called together to try it. It was a special event that called for a rare bottle. Sure enough it was very, very peaty; but it was as smooth as velvet.”
The Port Charlotte single malt of today was distilled with barley peated to 40 PPM (parts per million of phenols) making it one of the peatiest whiskies on the island. “It was the result of an incredibly slow ‘trickle distillation’” a specialty of Jim McEwan “to achieve maximum purity, flavour and texture.
And how does PC5 Evolution compare with the old? Ruaridh McLeod notes: “It has the same peatiness right enough, right enough. Och, its just as smooth as cow’s milk…
Professor Walter Schoburt, the first author and whisky expert to taste the new whisky, said: “What a whisky. First you get the peat, the wonderful, beloved aroma; then you feel that this is a whisky without edges. Incredible.”
