Port Ellen 12 Years Old 1982 (Kirsch Import)

This is a Port Ellen single malt, chosen and bottled by Kirsch Import matured to 12 year old, from 1982 and bottled at 43%. Port Ellen stood on Islay's rocky southern seaboard from its founding in 1825 until it was mothballed for good in 1983. The Port Ellen maltings survived the closure and still supply Islay.

Islay peat dried the malt, lending the spirit its coastal smoke, for a smoke more graceful than its Islay neighbours. The spirit was worked through copper pot stills by the sea. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, the classic wood for Port Ellen. At this age the smoke is still bright and forward, the spirit lively. Long, cool maturation in Islay warehouses lets the smoke knit slowly with the oak. Smoke, salt and citrus mark it out from its Islay neighbours. Each bottling is a finite draw on a stock that ended in 1983. The old warehouses still hold the last of the closed era spirit.

Bottled at 43%, it is rounded. Gentle oak vanilla beneath the smoke, while an elegant, structured smoke carries oily lemon, brine and a lanolin wax. It is elegant and deep, the peat folded into the malt. The finish runs oily, saline and slow. This is prized stock from a distillery reborn only in 2024.