Port Ellen 25 Years Old 1983 Cask #DMG 4562 (Douglas McGibbon)

Douglas McGibbon selected this Port Ellen, a 25 year old from 1983, drawn from cask DMG 4562 and bottled at 46%. Port Ellen was dating to 1825 on the Kildalton shore of Islay and brought to a halt in 1983. Its rarity made each bottle a collector's grail.

Peat smoke from Islay's bogs dried the malt to its smoky pitch, distilled in onion shaped copper pot stills on Leorin Lochs water, yielding a clean, mineral smoke with a citric lift. An Oloroso sherry cask wrapped the smoke in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Decades have eased the peat to a soft reek over beeswax and old oak. Refill ex-Bourbon oak, having given its sharpest notes to an earlier fill, lets the peat and the spirit lead. The peat came from Islay's own Duich Moss, localising the whole character. For years the spirit went quietly into blends before its single malt became a legend.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. The Oloroso brings smoked fig, raisin and walnut, and a smoky, mineral note carries maritime salt and citrus, with a whisper of coconut from the cask. Beneath the peat run lemon, wax and a mineral note. Salt, smoke and wax draw out the close. This is a finite pour from Islay's most mourned distillery.