Port Ellen 33 Years Old 1979 (Mackillop’s Choice)

This Port Ellen was from the independent bottler Mackillop's Choice, aged 33 year old, from 1979 and bottled at 43%. Built in 1825 on Islay's southern coast near the village of Port Ellen, Port Ellen was closed in 1983 in the whisky downturn. A new Port Ellen opened in 2024, while bottles like this remain from the old.

Heavily peated malt, kilned over Islay peat, set the smoky tone and run through copper pot stills on soft island water, for the austere, structured peat the malt is known for. An ex-Bourbon cask shaped it, soft refill oak that lets the smoke lead. At such an age the peat is soft and distant, the malt waxy, oily and profound. Decades in oak soften the phenols, turning sharp peat reek into mellow embers. The peat came from Islay's own Duich Moss, localising the whole character. For years the spirit went quietly into blends before its single malt became a legend.

At an approachable 43% it is refined. A gently medicinal smoke runs over a waxy, briny lift, with a light vanilla from the refill oak. The texture is oily and coating, the smoke threaded with sea salt. Embers and sea salt see out a long finish. This is stock from the legendary closed era, ever scarcer.