Port Ellen 25 Years Old 1980 Cask #2562 (Whiskyfreunde Essenheim)

Bottled by Whiskyfreunde Essenheim, this Port Ellen matured to 25 year old, from 1980, drawn from cask 2562 and bottled at 54.2%. Just 144 bottles were filled. The legendary Port Ellen, opened in 1825 on the windswept south of Islay, was shut by DCL in 1983. The distillery was reborn in 2024, but these casks date from its legendary years.

The barley was kilned over peat to around thirty five phenol parts per million and distilled in copper pot stills with water from the lochs, to give a maritime, citrus edged smoke quite its own. An ex-Bourbon cask shaped it, soft refill oak that lets the smoke lead. Decades have eased the peat to a soft reek over beeswax and old oak. Port Ellen was matured largely in refill casks, which sharpen the smoke and leave the malt a touch austere. Each Diageo Special Release thinned a stock that could never be replaced. The maltings that survived the closure still supply barley across Islay today.

At a full 54.2% it is concentrated and oily. A refined peat reek runs over lemon peel and sea brine, with a gentle vanilla note. The mouthfeel is oily, the smoke carried on a waxy body. The close is slow, soft peat over wax. This is one of the great ghost whiskies of Islay.