Port Ellen 23 Years Old 1978 Cask #5346 (Signatory)

A Port Ellen single malt, selected and bottled by Signatory Vintage matured to 23 year old, from 1978, drawn from cask 5346 and bottled at 56.7%. The outturn was 239 bottles. Port Ellen, first founded in 1825 by the sea on Islay's south shore, was silenced in 1983 when Islay had one distillery too many. Its rarity made each bottle a collector's grail.

The barley was heavily peated, dried over smoke from Islay's own peat, drawn off traditional pot stills fed by the Leorin Lochs, for the refined smoke that made its name. Maturation in a refill ex-Bourbon barrel kept the malt lean and smoky. At this age the smoke turns gentle and oily, the spirit deep, briny and refined. Refill ex-Bourbon oak, having given its sharpest notes to an earlier fill, lets the peat and the spirit lead.

At its natural 56.7% it is rich and briny. Drifting Islay peat smoke carries maritime salt and citrus, with soft vanilla and a touch of coconut from the cask. Beneath the peat run lemon, wax and a mineral note. It fades on smoke, citrus and a saline tang. This is a revered Islay malt from a distillery silent for forty years.