Port Ellen 26 Years Old 1983 Cask #221 (Silver Seal)

Bottled by Silver Seal, this Port Ellen, aged 26 year old, from 1983, drawn from cask 221 and bottled at 53.5%. The outturn was 120 bottles. Port Ellen stood on the windswept south of Islay from its founding in 1825 until it was shut by DCL in 1983. Diageo reopened the distillery in 2024, though stock like this comes from the original era.

The barley was kilned over peat to around thirty five phenol parts per million and distilled in copper pot stills with water from the lochs, to give a maritime, citrus edged smoke quite its own. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon American oak, gentle wood beneath the peat. At this age the smoke turns gentle and oily, the spirit deep, briny and refined. Port Ellen was matured largely in refill casks, which sharpen the smoke and leave the malt a touch austere.

Undiluted at 53.5%, it is deep and smoky. An elegant, structured smoke runs over lemon peel and sea brine, with gentle oak vanilla beneath the smoke. The mouthfeel is oily, the smoke carried on a waxy body. The finish runs oily, saline and slow. This is prized stock from a distillery reborn only in 2024.