Port Ellen 35 Years Old 1979 Cask #DL 10355 (Directors’ Cut)

From Douglas Laing comes this Port Ellen at 35 year old, from 1979, drawn from cask DL 10355 and bottled at 51.1%. Just 162 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. Most of its make once went to blends, but its single malt became the prize.

Drawn off traditional pot stills fed by the Leorin Lochs, to build a smoke at once oily, briny and refined. An American oak cask shaped it, lending only a light sweetness under the smoke. Very old Port Ellen turns ethereal, the smoke faded to embers over honeyed oak. The slow loss of the angel's share, a percent or two each year, has concentrated the liquid over decades. Each Diageo Special Release thinned a stock that could never be replaced. The maltings that survived the closure still supply barley across Islay today.

At 51.1%, undiluted, it is bold and smoky. Crystallised lemon and a salty tang ride on a coastal peat smoke, with soft vanilla and a touch of coconut from the cask. A crystallised lemon and a saline tang lift the smoke. It closes long, smoky and maritime. This is a revered Islay malt from a distillery silent for forty years.