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

Douglas Laing selected this Port Ellen, an 18 year old from 1982 and bottled at 50%. A release of 780 bottles. Port Ellen was founded in 1825 by the sea on Islay's south shore and silenced in 1983 when Islay had one distillery too many. Its dwindling stock became some of the most collectable in Scotch.

Peat smoke from Islay's bogs dried the malt to its smoky pitch, drawn off traditional pot stills fed by the Leorin Lochs, for the refined smoke that made its name. Maturation in Oloroso sherry laid smoked dried fruit over the peat. Around two decades in oak knit the smoke with the wood into a maritime, citrus edged malt. Time in the cask rounds the spirit, the smoke settling into a soft, waxy depth. Salt air off the Atlantic worked into the casks through long island maturation. Collectors chase these closed era bottles as some of the most prized in Scotch.

At its natural 50% it is rich and briny. The Oloroso brings smoked fig, raisin and walnut, and a smoky, mineral note carries maritime salt and citrus, with a whisper of coconut from the cask. Beneath the peat run lemon, wax and a mineral note. Salt, smoke and wax draw out the close. This is a finite pour from Islay's most mourned distillery.