Port Ellen 40 Years Old 1982 Eidolon Release 02 (Hunter Laing)

This Port Ellen was from the independent bottler Hunter Laing, a 40 year old Islay malt, from 1982 and bottled at 56.5%. 403 bottles in all. The legendary Port Ellen, built in 1825 on Islay's rocky southern seaboard, was mothballed for good in 1983. Diageo reopened the distillery in 2024, though stock like this comes from the original era.

Heavily peated malt, kilned over Islay peat, set the smoky tone and worked through copper pot stills by the sea, to lend the elegant, lightly medicinal smoke of the south shore. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, the classic wood for Port Ellen. Three decades and more leave a fragile, elegant smoke and a deep waxy body. Decades in oak soften the phenols, turning sharp peat reek into mellow embers. Its cult grew with every passing year the warehouses stayed quiet. The closed era spirit is finite, and every bottle drawn is one fewer left.

At a natural 56.5% it is powerful and oily. An elegant, structured smoke runs over lemon peel and sea brine, with a gentle vanilla note. The mouthfeel is oily, the smoke carried on a waxy body. The finish runs oily, saline and slow. This is one of the great ghost whiskies of Islay.