Port Ellen 26 Years Old 1982 Cask #1514 (Signatory)

Bottled by Signatory Vintage, this Port Ellen, a 26 year old from 1982, drawn from cask 1514 and bottled at 59.3%. The outturn was 267 bottles. The legendary Port Ellen, built in 1825 on Islay's rocky southern seaboard, was mothballed for good in 1983. The distillery was reborn in 2024, but these casks date from its legendary years.

The barley was kilned over peat to around thirty five phenol parts per million and worked through copper pot stills by the sea, to lend the elegant, lightly medicinal smoke of the south shore. An ex-Bourbon hogshead held it, the soft oak letting the Islay character lead. Decades have eased the peat to a soft reek over beeswax and old oak. Years by the Atlantic give the malt its briny, oily weight. The refined, citric smoke set it apart from its more medicinal Islay neighbours. Laid down before 1983, this is spirit from a distillery that stood silent for forty years.

At cask strength 59.3% it is muscular. A refined peat reek runs over lemon peel and sea brine, with a gentle vanilla note. The mouthfeel is oily, the smoke carried on a waxy body. The close is slow, soft peat over wax. This is one of the great ghost whiskies of Islay.