Port Ellen 26 Years Old 1983 Cask #DMG 5746 (Douglas McGibbon)

This is a Port Ellen single malt, chosen and bottled by Douglas McGibbon, a 26 year old Islay malt, from 1983, drawn from cask DMG 5746 and bottled at 46%. The legendary Port Ellen, opened in 1825 on the windswept south of Islay, was shut by DCL in 1983. Annual Special Releases through Diageo sealed its mythic status.

Islay peat dried the malt, lending the spirit its coastal smoke, giving a coastal smoke threaded with lemon. The spirit was distilled in copper pot stills with water from the lochs. Maturation in Oloroso sherry laid smoked dried fruit over the peat. At this age the smoke turns gentle and oily, the spirit deep, briny and refined. Long, cool maturation in Islay warehouses lets the smoke knit slowly with the oak. Collectors chase these closed era bottles as some of the most prized in Scotch. The 2024 revival rebuilt the stills, but casks like this remain from the original distillery.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow. The Oloroso brings smoked fig, raisin and walnut, and a gentle vanilla note, while an elegant, structured smoke carries brine, wax and a mineral edge. A lanolin wax and a coastal salinity give it real weight. The finish runs oily, saline and slow. This is one of the great ghost whiskies of Islay.