Port Ellen 22 years 1979 - 2001 1st Release

Port Ellen was founded in 1825 as a malt house and then developed into a distillery from 1833 to 1892 under the leadership of John Ramsay. The warehouses he built are still listed. The distillery was taken over by the Distillers Company Limited in 1925, closed in 1930 and rebuilt in 1966/1967. Production continued through the 1970s and closed in 1983, although single malt whisky is still available. When Port Ellen closed in 1983, Diageo demolished some of the buildings, reused others and destroyed the stills.

Origin and bottling

Distilled in 1979 and finally bottled in the year 2001 after a 22-year maturation. This is the first edition from the Annual Release series. Only 6000 bottles were eventually released, making it very exclusive. This bottle has an additional label under the original label with the following text: Presented by the Secretary General of NATO Lord Robertson of Port Ellen.

Cask type

For this first Release, it is not clear what type of cask it was matured in, but it is expected to be a combination of Refill Sherry Casks and Refill American Bourbon Casks. This release is bottled at natural cask strength of 56.2%

Tasting note

Colour

Pale yellow

Nose

Very complex with earthy notes. Smoked eel, herring and the delicious saltiness of shellfish. Fresh, but particularly smoky. Hint of rubber and clear petrol notes. Like standing at a petrol station filling up. Iodine and seaweed make it a feast for the nose.

Taste

Dark overripe fruit from the bbq. Smoke, smoke and more smoke, but also wood aromas. Peat and seaweed with salty influences. Bacon on a thick hamberger on a lightly burnt bun. This is as thick as motor oil and it even tastes a bit like that. Dirty docks and garages with smells and flavours that reveal something different every second.

Finish

The aftertaste resembles salty popcorn fried over a bbq.

Overall impression

Wow, this is unique and amazing to taste.

This Port Ellen 3rd Release has an average score of 91.73/100 points on WhiskyBase

Limited Edition Bottle No. 7592

Read Serge Valentin's tasting note on his website www.WhiskyFun.com here.

He rated this Single Malt Whisky with 93/100 points.