Origin: Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Owner: Diageo
When one speaks of Port Ellen, the hearts of many enthusiasts quicken their beats and their palms begin to sweat, both those who were there when the distillery was still active and those who were only able to discover it posthumously.
Belonging to the latter category, until now I have only been able to get to know it through stories and articles, occasionally tasting a few fortuitous samples from those who have generously shared them.
Port Ellen was established by Alexander Mackay in 1825 under the name of Leodamus, and was the first to install the ‘spirit safe’ in Scotland. Mackay soon declared bankruptcy and after passing from heir to heir, John Ramsay (part of the family) took over the business in 1836, and it was under his control that the distillery grew and developed, also benefiting the local community by being the first to ship its whisky directly to North America.
After his death, Port Ellen passed first to his wife and then to his son, but the crisis forced the family to sell everything to the Port Ellen Distillery Co. Ltd. of James Buchanan and John Dewar in 1920, and then to the future Diageo five years later.
Closed between 1930 and 1960 (but with the malting floors always in operation), it reopened after extensive refurbishment in 1967, and in 1973 the malt house just next door was opened to supply raw material to the group’s other island distilleries. Production ended entirely in blends, with only one official bottling carried out on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth’s visit in 1980, and it was in 1983 that Port Ellen closed for the ‘whisky loch’ for good, preferring to keep Caol Ila active in view of its greater production capacity and similarity of distillate, while the malt house remained active, supplying malt to all the island’s distilleries from 1987 until recently.
Demolished in 1999, it was from the previous year that the myth of this lost distillery began to build, with a single malt celebrating the 25 years of the malthouse followed by the first expression for the Rare Malts line, the Port Ellen 1978 20yo. In 2001 the Special Releases made their debut, of which Port Ellen has been a part for a long time until the latest expression, a 37yo, released in 2017, the year in which Diageo announced plans to revive the distillery, opening in 2024.
There have been countless special bottlings over the years, made by Diageo and various independent bottlers, which have helped to grow the legend of Port Ellen, a distillery ignored by most while it was active and reaching stellar prices at contemporary auctions, and today I taste four independent bottles from production between the 1970s and 1980s.
Port Ellen 1983 11yo Bottigliera Corsini
Strength: 43%ABV
Ageing cask: N/A
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Bottigliera Corsini
Average price: € 1,500.00
Official website: bottiglieriacorsini.it
The Corsini restaurant is an institution in Verona, with an important whisky cabinet making it a point of reference for the spirit, represented here by one of the few bottlings made under its own label in 1995, from the last distillates produced before closure.
Tasting Notes
Citrusy peat with coastal incursions on the nose, in which lemon juice sprinkles oysters as in the most classic gastronomic tradition along with scallops au gratin, olives in brine and burnt aromatic herbs (thyme, rosemary, marjoram). There is no lack of pastry side, between Catalan cream, lemon tart, burnt butter and almond confetti, all traversed by a slight note between mineral and hydrocarbon. At times, a mentholated side emanates and, in time, a caressing note of beeswax emerges in the background. Compact and elegant.
The citric spirit is confirmed on the palate, with a rather accentuated freshness and liveliness between the coastal (fish and salt), peaty (maritime grill, hydrocarbons) and sweet components (crème brûlée, baked apple with cinnamon, ginger biscuits), with spicy tips (black pepper, ginger, a touch of dill). Not full-bodied, with herbaceous notes intertwining with sweet ones with ash, brine, lemon, and burnt tobacco. Bitterness on the length.
Long, saline finish of ash, lemon peel, pastry, mineral and vegetal (roasted) notes.
Granted that a sample of whisky this old (and that goes for the others as well) should always be taken with a grain of salt, it has a nice island personality, with some hints of a classic Caol Ila, which is somewhat lost in the drink but gives a nice persistence. Character and elegance, as befits a classic.
Vote: 88/100
Port Ellen 1983 14yo Hart Brothers
Strength: 43%ABV
Ageing cask: N/A
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Hart Brothers
Average price: € 1,000.00
Official website: hartbrothers.co.uk
Like so many other independent Scottish bottlers, Hart Brothers began as a shop in the late 1800s near Glasgow, in Paisley, becoming first a blender in 1964 and finally a bottler a decade later. This is not the only Port Ellen under the label, but one of the youngest.
Tasting Notes
A very marked coastal sweetness emerges from the glass, between iodine, oysters, brine and citrus honey, where the peat expresses itself in a distant bonfire of brushwood soaked in wet flint minerality. Fleshy fruit, including apple, pineapple, peach and apricot, with shortcrust pastry and tartlet with lemon cream. It accentuates the mineral part over time, with some hints of cinnamon.
On the palate, it loses much of the sweetness of the nose to veer towards bitter evocations, between liquorice root and burnt coffee, with streaks of black pepper, nutmeg and ginger. Currants, green apple, lemon, nuts (walnuts, almonds), bitter cocoa, toasted wood… the coastal velleities have gone to the background, the peat expressed in the burnt branches, more evident here, remains in the foreground. Light body.
The finish is quite long and spicy, between burnt grass and pastry, apple, dried fruit and a trail of salt.
Unbalanced and not very incisive, it loses intensity in the drink where on the nose it showed a bold personality, leaving (literally) some bitterness in the mouth.
Vote: 84/100
Port Ellen 1974 16yo Gordon & Macphail
Strength: 40%ABV
Ageing cask: N/A
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Speymalt Whisky Distributors Ltd.
Average price: € 1,600.00
Official website: www.gordonandmacphail.com
On the bottler there is little to add, on the bottle unfortunately the information (as for the others) is very scarce, after all in the 90s it is not that they were so generous with details, but we still make a big leap back in distillation by almost ten years.
Tasting Notes
On the nose, the peat is pungent and lively, lots of iodine and medicinal tips with an elegant fireplace smoke and spicy touches of pepper, ginger and nutmeg. And it is precisely the ocean that takes centre stage, with seaweed, oysters and smoked mussels combined with orange peel, pineapple, red apple peel, Catalan cream, aromatic herbs (thyme, marjoram) and an unctuous, subtle but persistent background note of almond oil. Over time, the citrus part grows, with impressions of bitter orange marmalade and mandarins. Full and elegant.
In the mouth, the minimal alcohol content has a heavy impact, probably also due to the age of the bottle, losing body without the oiliness that the nose suggested. The coastal spirit ends up in the background, leaving the stage to spices and nuts (almonds, peanut skin), chestnuts and citrus fruits as fruity representatives, with orange peel and tangerines. Burnt wood, Catalan cream and liquorice in the background, with a savoury, iodine-like tip along the length that brings the ocean to the fore.
The finish is quite long and dry, of dull embers, spices, citrus, nuts and salt.
It is difficult to deal with a bottle that is over thirty years old, never as in this case should the ‘judgement’ be suspended by merely enjoying the good fortune of having tried a malt from that era. Given the truly excellent olfactory side, I take it for granted that the decline in drinking is mainly due to age, leaving you with a unique experience anyhow.
Vote: 86/100
Reviews of Gordon&MacPhail whisky
Port Ellen 1976 18yo Wilson & Morgan
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing cask: N/A
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Wilson & Morgan
Average price: € 1,600.00
Official website: www.wilsonandmorgan.com
The Italians Wilson & Morgan also need no introduction, and here too little or nothing is known about this 1995 bottle, the most important ageing of this quatern.
Tasting Notes
Fresh and sharp on the nose, with penetrating vegetal and mineral notes that develop between aromatic herbs (thyme, marjoram) and balsamic (eucalyptus, fir, propolis) with the complicity of nuts (walnuts, almonds) and liquorice root. The coastal part takes a back seat, with iodine and medicinal hints intertwined with an industrial peat that is more than a little smoky, between tyre and motor oil, in a frame of citrus (candied orange peel, bergamot). In the background, marzipan, Catalan cream and candied citron. Pungent.
In the mouth, it reveals a softer side, with a nice oiliness that drags lemon curd and sweet liquorice, briefly pierced by the mineral and iodine blade that brings the ocean back to the fore, through waves of brine, oysters and seaweed, with a patch of oil floating a few metres from the shore. The smoke is subdued, subtle, more evident at length, amidst the burnt rubber and wood. Citrus fruit veers towards lemon, always framing, with spicy hints of black pepper and dill. Artichokes emerge arm in arm with herbs and a slight balsamic inflection.
The finish is quite long between pepper, mint, earl grey tea, citrus, almonds, liquorice, brine and dull embers.
The richest and most varied of the four, it embodies different souls almost complementing the other tastings in a complex and layered unicum. Very enjoyable.
Vote: 90/100