Port Ellen 15 Years Old 1974 Antica Casa Marchesi Spinola (Sestante)

Bottled by Sestante, this Port Ellen, a 15 year old Islay malt, from 1974 and bottled at 40%. Established in 1825 on the windswept south of Islay, Port Ellen was shut by DCL in 1983. A new Port Ellen opened in 2024, while bottles like this remain from the old.

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. Refill bourbon wood held the spirit, flattering its citric, oily smoke. By this age the peat has begun to soften, settling into the oak and the brine. Port Ellen was matured largely in refill casks, which sharpen the smoke and leave the malt a touch austere. Laid down before 1983, this is spirit from a distillery that stood silent for forty years. Its cult grew with every passing year the warehouses stayed quiet.

At 40% it is balanced and smoky. A gently medicinal smoke runs over lemon peel and sea brine, with a light vanilla from the refill oak. The mouthfeel is oily, the smoke carried on a waxy body. Embers and sea salt see out a long finish. This is stock from the legendary closed era, ever scarcer.