Port Ellen 22 Years Old 1983 Cask #DL 2116 (Douglas Laing)

Bottled by Douglas Laing, this Port Ellen at 22 year old, from 1983, drawn from cask DL 2116 and bottled at 50%. Just 660 bottles were filled. Port Ellen, dating to 1825 on Islay's southern coast near the village of Port Ellen, was closed in 1983 in the whisky downturn. The distillery was reborn in 2024, but these casks date from its legendary years.

The barley was kilned over peat to around thirty five phenol parts per million and run through copper pot stills on soft island water, for the austere, structured peat the malt is known for. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, the classic wood for Port Ellen. Well past twenty years the peat has mellowed to soft embers, the malt grown waxy and elegant. Port Ellen was matured largely in refill casks, which sharpen the smoke and leave the malt a touch austere.

Undiluted at 50%, it is deep and smoky. A refined peat reek runs over a waxy, briny lift, with soft coconut and vanilla from the oak. The texture is oily and coating, the smoke threaded with sea salt. The close is slow, soft peat over wax. This is a piece of Islay legend in the glass.