Port Ellen 27 Years Old 1983 While my whisky gently weeps (The Whiskyman)

This is a Port Ellen single malt, chosen and bottled by The Whiskyman, a 27 year old Islay malt, from 1983 and bottled at 55.5%. Only 120 bottles were released. Port Ellen, founded in 1825 on the windswept south of Islay, was shut by DCL in 1983. The Port Ellen maltings survived the closure and still supply Islay.

Islay peat dried the malt, lending the spirit its coastal smoke, giving a coastal smoke threaded with lemon. The spirit was distilled in copper pot stills with water from the lochs. An American oak cask shaped it, lending only a light sweetness under the smoke. Decades have eased the peat to a soft reek over beeswax and old oak. The peat phenols fade only slowly, which is why even very old Port Ellen keeps its smoke. Three Islay distilleries proved one too many, and this was the one to close. Its smoke leans citric and mineral rather than tarry and medicinal.

At 55.5%, undiluted, it is bold and smoky. Soft coconut and vanilla from the oak, while a graceful Islay smoke carries oily lemon, brine and a lanolin wax. It is elegant and deep, the peat folded into the malt. The finish smoulders gently, oily and long. This is a piece of Islay legend in the glass.