Port Ellen 23 Years Old 1983 Old & Rare The Platinum Selection (Douglas Laing)

From Douglas Laing comes this Port Ellen at 23 year old, from 1983 and bottled at 54.9%. Just 360 bottles were filled. Port Ellen, founded in 1825 on the Kildalton shore of Islay, was brought to a halt in 1983. Most of its make once went to blends, but its single malt became the prize.

Distilled in onion shaped copper pot stills on Leorin Lochs water, yielding the poised, maritime smoke of classic Port Ellen. A refill American oak cask held it, keeping the distillery character to the fore. Well past twenty years the peat has mellowed to soft embers, the malt grown waxy and elegant. Refill wood flatters Port Ellen, holding back the vanilla so the smoke and citrus speak. John Ramsay developed the distillery through the middle of the 19th century. The drum maltings built in 1973 still turn out barley for Islay today.

At 54.9%, undiluted, it is bold and smoky. Crystallised lemon and a salty tang ride on a coastal peat smoke, with soft vanilla and a touch of coconut from the cask. A crystallised lemon and a saline tang lift the smoke. It closes long, smoky and maritime. This is a revered Islay malt from a distillery silent for forty years.