Port Ellen 19 Years Old 1971 Vintage for Meregalli Import (G&M)

Single malt Port Ellen, an independent Gordon & MacPhail bottling, a 19 year old Islay malt, from 1971 and bottled at 40%. The legendary Port Ellen, built in 1825 on Islay's rocky southern seaboard, was mothballed for good in 1983. The Port Ellen maltings survived the closure and still supply Islay.

The malt was peated hard over Islay peat cut from Duich Moss, for a smoke more graceful than its Islay neighbours. The spirit was worked through copper pot stills by the sea. Maturation in a refill ex-Bourbon barrel kept the malt lean and smoky. Two decades let the phenols ease into a rounded, coastal smoke. The long sleep concentrates the smoke and builds a lanolin, waxy texture. Smoke, salt and citrus mark it out from its Islay neighbours. Each bottling is a finite draw on a stock that ended in 1983. The old warehouses still hold the last of the closed era spirit.

Reduced to 40%, it is mellow. A gentle vanilla note, while an elegant, structured smoke carries oily lemon, brine and a lanolin wax. It is elegant and deep, the peat folded into the malt. The finish runs oily, saline and slow. This is one of the great ghost whiskies of Islay.