Port Ellen 25 Years Old 1982 Cask #2850 (BB&R)

A Port Ellen single malt, selected and bottled by Berry Bros & Rudd matured to 25 year old, from 1982, drawn from cask 2850 and bottled at 56.1%. Port Ellen stood by the sea on Islay's south shore from its founding in 1825 until it was silenced in 1983 when Islay had one distillery too many. It became the most lamented of all the lost distilleries.

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. 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. Refill ex-Bourbon oak, having given its sharpest notes to an earlier fill, lets the peat and the spirit lead.

At a full 56.1% it is concentrated and oily. Drifting Islay peat smoke carries maritime salt and citrus, with a thread of vanilla from the bourbon wood. Beneath the peat run lemon, wax and a mineral note. It fades on smoke, citrus and a saline tang. This is a collectable relic of a cult Islay name.