Port Ellen 10 Years Old Black ceramic jug (Signatory)

Signatory Vintage bottled this Port Ellen single malt matured to 10 year old, and bottled at 43%. Port Ellen, dating to 1825 beside the bay at Port Ellen on Islay, was closed in 1983 and long mourned. Most of its make once went to blends, but its single malt became the prize.

Made in onion shaped stills on soft Islay water, building the oily, briny style it is loved for. Maturation in a refill ex-Bourbon barrel kept the malt lean and smoky. At a youthful age the peat reek is clear and the malt fresh. The slow loss of the angel's share, a percent or two each year, has concentrated the liquid over decades. The closed era spirit is finite, and every bottle drawn is one fewer left. The spirit breathed sea air through long maturation on the island. Walter Frederick Campbell laid out the village of Port Ellen in 1821.

At 43% it is supple and elegant. Crystallised lemon and a salty tang ride on drifting Islay peat smoke, with soft vanilla and a touch of coconut from the cask. A crystallised lemon and a saline tang lift the smoke. It fades on smoke, citrus and a saline tang. This is a revered Islay malt from a distillery silent for forty years.