Port Ellen 35 Years Old 1983 Cask #DL 13101 (XOP)

A Port Ellen single malt, selected and bottled by Douglas Laing, a 35 year old from 1983, drawn from cask DL 13101 and bottled at 54.3%. A release of 128 bottles. Port Ellen was first founded in 1825 beside the bay at Port Ellen on Islay and 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 Oloroso butt held it, sherry and smoke twining together. At this great age the peat is a ghostly whisper over beeswax, old oak and sea salt. 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 54.3% it is powerful and oily. The Oloroso brings smoked fig, raisin and walnut, and a smoky, mineral note carries salted citrus and a soft wax, with a whisper of coconut from the cask. Soft embers and brine sit behind the smoke. Salt, smoke and wax draw out the close. This is a finite pour from Islay's most mourned distillery.