Port Ellen 35 Years Old 1977 Old & Rare The Platinum Selection (Douglas Laing)

A Port Ellen single malt, selected and bottled by Douglas Laing at 35 year old, from 1977 and bottled at 50.4%. Just 199 bottles were filled. Port Ellen, dating to 1825 beside the bay at Port Ellen on Islay, was closed in 1983 and long mourned. Its reputation only grew as the casks ran down.

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 hogshead held it, the soft oak letting the Islay character lead. Three decades and more leave a fragile, elegant smoke and a deep waxy body. Coastal warehousing lends a saline, maritime note as the spirit breathes by the sea. Its cult grew with every passing year the warehouses stayed quiet. The closed era spirit is finite, and every bottle drawn is one fewer left.

At a natural 50.4% 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.