Port Ellen Pe1 SMS Elements of Islay (Speciality Drinks Ltd)

Speciality Drinks Ltd bottled this Port Ellen single malt and bottled at 58.7%. Port Ellen was first founded in 1825 beside the bay at Port Ellen on Islay and closed in 1983 and long mourned. Most of its make once went to blends, but its single malt became the prize.

Made in onion shaped stills on soft Islay water, building the oily, briny style it is loved for. An Oloroso butt held it, sherry and smoke twining together. No age is given, but the mellow smoke points to long years in oak. The slow loss of the angel's share, a percent or two each year, has concentrated the liquid over decades. The closed era spirit is finite, and every bottle drawn is one fewer left. The spirit breathed sea air through long maturation on the island. Walter Frederick Campbell laid out the village of Port Ellen in 1821.

At cask strength 58.7% it is muscular. The Oloroso brings smoked fig, raisin and walnut, and crystallised lemon and a salty tang ride on a soft maritime smoke, with a whisper of coconut from the cask. A crystallised lemon and a saline tang lift the smoke. A waxy, gently medicinal finish lingers long. This is a finite pour from Islay's most mourned distillery.