Port Ellen 22 years old (D.1979 B.2001) 1st Release / 56.2% / 0.7l

The closing of the Port Ellen Distillery in May 1983 went virtually unnoticed.

It was the smallest distillery on the island in the DCL portfolio, inefficient, and the producers had huge stocks of whisky that they didn't quite know what to do with. In the 90s, Port Ellen was regularly featured in offers from independent publishers and enjoyed moderate interest. Today, Port Ellen is one of the most collectible whiskies and although Diageo has announced the opening of a distillery, we have doubts whether a 100% replica of the original will be possible. The Port Ellen presented here, distilled in 1979, is the first edition of this whisky (2001) in the prestigious Diageo Special Releases series. The whisky was bottled at cask strength (56.2% abv), and 6,000 bottles were released.

Nose : peat smoke, sea breeze, wet sand and shells, orange and lemon peel, plums, apples, vanilla, a bit of ginger, forest floor and peat smoke in the background.

Taste: seaweed salad, barley malt, vanilla, salted caramel, milk chocolate, apples, lemon jam, white pepper, ginger, a bit of iodine and peat.

Finish : long, with notes of salted nuts, baked apples, caramel, white pepper, peat smoke and ash.