Port Ellen 27 Years Old 1982 Cask #DL 4904 (Douglas Laing)

A Port Ellen single malt, selected and bottled by Douglas Laing at 27 year old, from 1982, drawn from cask DL 4904 and bottled at 55.2%. Just 133 bottles were filled. Port Ellen, first founded in 1825 by the sea on Islay's south shore, 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. Refill bourbon wood held the spirit, flattering its citric, oily smoke. Well past twenty years the peat has mellowed to soft embers, the malt grown waxy and elegant. Time in the cask rounds the spirit, the smoke settling into a soft, waxy depth. Each bottling is a finite draw on a stock that ended in 1983. The old warehouses still hold the last of the closed era spirit.

At a natural 55.2% it is powerful and oily. A coastal peat smoke carries salted citrus and a soft wax, with soft vanilla and a touch of coconut from the cask. Soft embers and brine sit behind the smoke. It closes long, smoky and maritime. This is a revered Islay malt from a distillery silent for forty years.