Port Ellen 18 Years Old 1982 The Old Malt Cask (Douglas Laing)

Single malt Port Ellen, an independent Douglas Laing bottling, an 18 year old from 1982 and bottled at 50%. A release of 777 bottles. Port Ellen was founded in 1825 on Islay's rocky southern seaboard and mothballed for good in 1983. The Port Ellen maltings survived the closure and still supply Islay.

The malt was peated hard over Islay peat cut from Duich Moss, for a smoke more graceful than its Islay neighbours. The spirit was worked through copper pot stills by the sea. Maturation in Oloroso sherry laid smoked dried fruit over the peat. Two decades let the phenols ease into a rounded, coastal smoke. The long sleep concentrates the smoke and builds a lanolin, waxy texture. 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 hearty 50% it carries real weight. The Oloroso brings smoked fig, raisin and walnut, and light oak sweetness underneath, while a gently medicinal smoke carries oily lemon, brine and a lanolin wax. It is elegant and deep, the peat folded into the malt. Embers and sea salt see out a long finish. This is a vanishing dram from Islay's most storied closed distillery.