Port Ellen 22 Years Old 1976 Cask #4755 (Signatory)

Bottled by Signatory Vintage, this Port Ellen, aged 22 year old, from 1976, drawn from cask 4755 and bottled at 55.4%. A release of 268 bottles. Port Ellen stood on Islay's rocky southern seaboard from its founding in 1825 until it was mothballed for good in 1983. Diageo reopened the distillery in 2024, though stock like this comes from the original era.

The barley was kilned over peat to around thirty five phenol parts per million and worked through copper pot stills by the sea, to lend the elegant, lightly medicinal smoke of the south shore. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood holding back so the peat speaks. Decades have eased the peat to a soft reek over beeswax and old oak. Years by the Atlantic give the malt its briny, oily weight. The peat came from Islay's own Duich Moss, localising the whole character. For years the spirit went quietly into blends before its single malt became a legend.

Bottled at a cask strength 55.4%, it is intense. An elegant, structured smoke runs over lemon peel and sea brine, with gentle oak vanilla beneath the smoke. The mouthfeel is oily, the smoke carried on a waxy body. The finish runs oily, saline and slow. This is prized stock from a distillery reborn only in 2024.