Port Charlotte's Latest Release Spotlights the Power of Syrah

For most scotch lovers, Islay is most often talked about in terms of its peated whiskies. Only two of the island’s distilleries make non-peated expressions: Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain. Bruichladdich’s namesake range is laser-focused on showcasing Islay’s terroir, putting the spirit front and center by leaning into the island’s locally grown barley strains without using peated malt. But the distillery does use peat to varying degrees in the rest of its portfolio. There’s Port Charlotte, a sort of smoky twin to the main brand, showcasing peated riffs on Bruichladdich’s house style. And at the other end of the smoke spectrum sits Octomore: the distillery’s annual trio of single malts that are widely touted as being some of the most heavily peated whiskies available.

But amid all of the focus on smoke and levels of peat content, one key aspect of Bruichladdich’s production process is talked about less frequently: wine cask maturation. When the distillery was brought back from the dead in 2001, the new ownership, most notably its visionary former leader Mark Reynier, placed an emphasis on using quality wine casks as a vector for adding flavor. In the years since, Bruichladdich has worked with casks that have held over 200 different wine varieties—many of which are used to age its flagship Classic Laddie. The distillery also spotlights interesting wine casks through its Port Charlotte Cask Exploration series, which centers on finishing. The collection’s eighth and latest edition, SYC:01 is a vintage-dated single malt that features syrah barrels.

Syrah’s Compatibility

Port Charlotte SYC:01 was distilled in 2013, using malted barley that was peated to 40 phenol parts per million. It was initially aged for 5 years in bourbon barrels, including both first-fill (75%) and second-fill (25%) casks. In 2018, the whisky was transferred into first-fill syrah casks from an undisclosed winery in France’s northern Rhône region that specializes in making terroir-driven biodynamic wine. After a 4-year finish, the whisky was moved back into bourbon barrels and left to marry for an extended period before being bottled at 54% ABV.

Syrah is a type of dark red wine grape that originates from France’s famous Rhône Valley. Today, the bulk of syrah wine is still made in France, but other wine regions are also in the picture, namely Australia, which calls it “shiraz,” Spain, Chile, and North America. Rhône Valley syrah wine, like the one used in this release, is medium-to-full-bodied and tends to have high tannin content with notes of plum, black pepper, tobacco, and dark fruits.

“The immense influence of the syrah casks is clear to see,” head distiller Adam Hannett said in a statement. “It’s a balancing act to ensure the oak and the peat smoke work in perfect harmony, and our versatile Port Charlotte spirit has worked amazingly well with the rich fruits and spice from the cask.”

That tannin content and mix of spicy and fruity notes make syrah casks an attractive option for whisky distillers. While syrah barrels aren’t used as widely as sherry casks and port pipes, they’ve been put to great use by some popular whisky makers in recent years. Our latest Top 20 list had two syrah cask-influenced whiskies, including Westland Wine Cask Finished (finished in a mix of red wine casks, including Washington syrah) and Starward 3 year old 100 Proof (aged in casks that held Australian wine, including shiraz). Elsewhere, High West notably used them to finish its Yippie Ki-Yay rye, an annual release that was discontinued some years ago, and Westward has used them for special releases like its whiskey club-exclusive Vintner’s Cuvée single malt.

This is the first release of a Port Charlotte finished in syrah casks, but Bruichladdich has excelled in the past using them for primary maturation. They’re one of the many casks used by the distillery to age its 93-point Classic Laddie expression, joining forces with casks that held merlot, sauternes, sauvignon blanc, muscat, oloroso, tempranillo, and others. The 2022 Islay Barley release (which was our No. 9 Whisky of 2022) used a small amount of syrah casks in its maturation, alongside other European wine casks and bourbon barrels. On the Port Charlotte side of things, an earlier Cask Exploration expression, OLC:01, was partially aged in syrah casks before being finished in oloroso sherry hogsheads, and took home a 90-point rating from our panel.

Port Charlotte 2013 Cask Exploration Series SYC:01 Islay Single Malt

ABV: 54%
SRP: $150
Availability: select retailers nationwide