Port Ellen 24 Years Old 1979 Cask #6771 (Signatory)

From Signatory Vintage comes this Port Ellen matured to 24 year old, from 1979, drawn from cask 6771 and bottled at 43%. The outturn was 572 bottles. Port Ellen, founded in 1825 on the Kildalton shore of Islay, was brought to a halt in 1983. Its last casks were laid down in 1983, a finite legacy ever since.

Distilled in onion shaped copper pot stills on Leorin Lochs water, yielding the poised, maritime smoke of classic Port Ellen. Maturation in Oloroso sherry laid smoked dried fruit over the peat. Long ageing leaves a mellow smoke, a lanolin wax and a maritime depth. Maturation in old refill casks keeps the distillery character front and centre. Three Islay distilleries proved one too many, and this was the one to close. Its smoke leans citric and mineral rather than tarry and medicinal.

At 43% it is supple and elegant. The Oloroso brings smoked fig, raisin and walnut, and lemon zest and coastal salt ride on drifting Islay peat smoke, with soft vanilla and a touch of coconut from the cask. It is structured and a touch austere, the refill oak keeping it lean. It fades on smoke, citrus and a saline tang. This is a revered Islay malt from a distillery silent for forty years.