Port Ellen 25 Years Old 1982 (Connoisseurs Choice)

A Port Ellen single malt, selected and bottled by Gordon & MacPhail matured to 25 year old, from 1982 and bottled at 40%. 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. An Oloroso sherry cask wrapped the smoke in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Long ageing leaves a mellow smoke, a lanolin wax and a maritime depth. Time in the cask rounds the spirit, the smoke settling into a soft, waxy depth. Walter Frederick Campbell laid out the village of Port Ellen in 1821. John Ramsay developed the distillery through the middle of the 19th century.

Reduced to 40%, it is mellow. The Oloroso brings smoked fig, raisin and walnut, and a soft maritime smoke carries salted citrus and a soft wax, with a touch of vanilla and cream from the wood. Soft embers and brine sit behind the smoke. A waxy, gently medicinal finish lingers long. This is a collectable relic of a cult Islay name.