Port Ellen 25 years 1978 - 2004 4th 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 1978 and finally bottled in the year 2004 after a 25-year maturation. This is the 4th edition from the Annual Release series. Only 5100 bottles were eventually released, making it very exclusive.

Cask type

For this 4th 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

Golden yellow

Nose

Subtle smoke with delicious notes of grapefruit and seafood. In addition to the barn air and distinct peat aromas, fresh scents like freshly cut grass and apple orchard. 

Taste

Boom, immediate taste of mild rubber and firm peat. Also a hint of glue as if you were sticking a bicycle tyre. Bitter chocolate and espresso beans. Some smoked fish and bbq flavours make it a delicious whole.

Finish

The taste of bicycle garage positively lingers on the palate.

Overall impression

Different than usual, but still clearly Port Ellen. Do you still understand?

This Port Ellen 4th Release has an average score of 91.55/100 points on WhiskyBase

Limited Edition Bottle No. 2342

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

He rated this Single Malt Whisky with 92/100 points.