Port Ellen 26 Years Old Black ceramic jug (Signatory)

Signatory Vintage selected this Port Ellen at 26 year old, and bottled at 43%. Port Ellen was dating to 1825 on the Kildalton shore of Islay and brought to a halt in 1983. Its reputation only grew as the casks ran down.

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. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood holding back so the peat speaks. Well past twenty years the peat has mellowed to soft embers, the malt grown waxy and elegant. Coastal warehousing lends a saline, maritime note as the spirit breathes by the sea. Its smoke leans citric and mineral rather than tarry and medicinal. The casks were filled before the stills fell silent in 1983. Diageo invested heavily to raise the distillery again two centuries on. Long island ageing lends a saline thread to the deep smoke.

At 43% it is smooth and elegant. A soft maritime smoke carries salted citrus and a soft wax, with a whisper of coconut from the cask. Soft embers and brine sit behind the smoke. A waxy, gently medicinal finish lingers long. This is a finite pour from Islay's most mourned distillery.