Port Ellen 27 Years Old 1983 Cask #517 (Signatory)

From Signatory Vintage comes this Port Ellen, a 27 year old from 1983, drawn from cask 517 and bottled at 59%. The outturn was 608 bottles. The legendary Port Ellen, established in 1825 beside the bay at Port Ellen on Islay, was closed in 1983 and long mourned. Its last casks were laid down in 1983, a finite legacy ever since.

Made in onion shaped stills on soft Islay water, building the oily, briny style it is loved for. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon American oak, gentle wood beneath the peat. Decades have eased the peat to a soft reek over beeswax and old oak. The slow loss of the angel's share, a percent or two each year, has concentrated the liquid over decades. Walter Frederick Campbell laid out the village of Port Ellen in 1821. John Ramsay developed the distillery through the middle of the 19th century. The drum maltings built in 1973 still turn out barley for Islay today.

At 59%, undiluted, it is bold and smoky. Lemon zest and coastal salt ride on a coastal peat smoke, with a quiet sweetness from the refill cask. It is structured and a touch austere, the refill oak keeping it lean. It closes long, smoky and maritime. This is a rare survivor of the 1983 closure.