Port Ellen 30 Years Old 1982 Cask #2041 (Scotch Single Malt Circle)

A Port Ellen single malt, selected and bottled by Scotch Single Malt Circle, a 30 year old Islay malt, from 1982, drawn from cask 2041 and bottled at 55.5%. The outturn was 150 bottles. Built in 1825 beside the bay at Port Ellen on Islay, Port Ellen was closed in 1983 and long mourned. Its dwindling stock became some of the most collectable in Scotch.

The barley was heavily peated, dried over smoke from Islay's own peat, made in onion shaped stills on soft Islay water, for a peat reek tempered by salt and citrus. An ex-Bourbon cask shaped it, soft refill oak that lets the smoke lead. Long ageing leaves a mellow smoke, a lanolin wax and a maritime depth. Time in the cask rounds the spirit, the smoke settling into a soft, waxy depth. Port Ellen was one of three Diageo Islay distilleries, the one judged surplus in 1983. Its warehouses by the bay, built under John Ramsay, still stand as listed buildings.

At 55.5%, undiluted, it is bold and smoky. A smoky, mineral note carries maritime salt and citrus, with a thread of vanilla from the bourbon wood. Beneath the peat run lemon, wax and a mineral note. Salt, smoke and wax draw out the close. This is spirit from the lost years of Port Ellen, finite for good.