Port Ellen 19 Years Old 1982 Cask #1387 (Lombard)

A Port Ellen single malt, selected and bottled by Lombard, a 19 year old from 1982, drawn from cask 1387 and bottled at 50%. Port Ellen was dating to 1825 on the Kildalton shore of Islay and brought to a halt in 1983. Its whisky grew into a legend after closure.

The barley was heavily peated, dried over smoke from Islay's own peat, distilled in onion shaped copper pot stills on Leorin Lochs water, yielding a clean, mineral smoke with a citric lift. Refill ex-Bourbon casks held the spirit, the wood Port Ellen is most often found in. Around two decades in oak knit the smoke with the wood into a maritime, citrus edged malt. Coastal warehousing lends a saline, maritime note as the spirit breathes by the sea. Port Ellen was one of three Diageo Islay distilleries, the one judged surplus in 1983. Its warehouses by the bay, built under John Ramsay, still stand as listed buildings.

At cask strength 50% it is muscular. A soft maritime smoke carries maritime salt and citrus, with a whisper of coconut from the cask. Beneath the peat run lemon, wax and a mineral note. A waxy, gently medicinal finish lingers long. This is a finite pour from Islay's most mourned distillery.