Port Ellen 23 Years Old 1979 Cask #6769 (Wilson & Morgan)

This Port Ellen was from the independent bottler Wilson & Morgan, a 23 year old Islay malt, from 1979, drawn from cask 6769 and bottled at 46%. Port Ellen, dating to 1825 on Islay's southern coast near the village of Port Ellen, was closed in 1983 in the whisky downturn. Port Ellen distilled again from 2024, yet this is spirit from the closed era.

Heavily peated malt, kilned over Islay peat, set the smoky tone and run through copper pot stills on soft island water, for the austere, structured peat the malt is known for. An American oak cask shaped it, lending only a light sweetness under the smoke. At this age the smoke turns gentle and oily, the spirit deep, briny and refined. Decades in oak soften the phenols, turning sharp peat reek into mellow embers. The closed era spirit is finite, and every bottle drawn is one fewer left. The spirit breathed sea air through long maturation on the island.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. A graceful Islay smoke 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 finish smoulders gently, oily and long. This is a piece of Islay legend in the glass.