Port Ellen (OMC) Cask 6588

50% abv

Score:  90.5/100

This is  classic Islay.  Not the best of Islay, but absolutely exemplifying  the style and character.  Islay with a little age and dust on the  bottle, that is.  The subtle nuances paint a picture of the island  that resonates long and hard with me, having now been there.  Be  damned if this doesn’t remind me of walking the island.  Dusty farm  roads and briny coastal breezes.  The impressions are all there of  afternoon strolls beneath island skies and the bleating of sheep on the gently  rolling hills.

Every now and then the olfactory organ can trigger such violently vivid recollections driven by scent recall that I am truly taken aback.  It is hard to believe how much is stored in one’s mind that can be brought forth by a scent months or years later.  The mind is a wonderful thing.

Though I tsk and shake my head at a bottling of Port  Ellen that is adulterated to something less than its glorious cask strength, I do concede that beggars can’t be choosers.  With this whisky in such limited supply, just a taste is a treat.  This Old Malt Cask bottling at 50% is from cask 6588.  It was decanted at 27 years, and to be honest…I think it could have come out a little earlier.   While still good (very good, actually) it shows a few signs of  being a little long in the tooth.  Too active a cask  perhaps?  Is it just me?

The nose is a medley of rubber, oak, smoke and salt.  I could also pick up notes of dry tinder, fish, grains and decaying autumnal vegetation.  One of the more satisfyingly unique compositions I’ve come  across.

The  taste buds are treated to the much anticipated smoke and lightly citric dryness.  Tart and ashy, there is a very unique and defining  burnt licorice/rubber.  In terms of finish and staying power…pull out the hide-a-bed…these rubbery gristy notes ain’t leaving till the morn.

I  imagine this would pair well with a fine cigar.  A mild one though.  This is a fairly brittle dram.

- Reviewed by:  Curt

- Photo:  Curt

Port Ellen 9th Release

57.7% abv

Score:  93/100

I  waited many a long day to both taste and review a Port Ellen.  In  point of fact I actually turned down an opportunity to taste this expression a  while back simply because I had already beaten up on my palate earlier that eve  with a few other Islay malts.  It just seemed like a waste.   Put simply, Port Ellen is a malt that deserves undivided attention and an  unbiased palate.  Its pedigree, value (subjective or otherwise) and  reputation demand respect.

That  being said…this also insinuates a lot of pressure and expectation on PE to  deliver and be exceptional.  Is it?  Well…

At this  point I can’t even pretend to hide my bias.  I have a junkie’s  weakness for Islay malts.  Peat is like a vice.  Or  more accurately, the smoky heft and majesty of these medicinal malts is like a  vice.  All eight of Islay’s working distilleries have produced  whiskies that have charmed the socks off of me.  Now let’s look at  a dram from a distillery no longer producing.

Amid  the economic tumult of the early 80s (1983, to be exact), Port Ellen was the  most heartbreaking of casualties.  A distillery that simply fell  victim to surplus, as United Distillers elected to retain Caol Ila and Lagavulin and let the  doors swing shut on Port Ellen forever.  Oftentimes when a  distillery is closed the possibility of the phoenix act is still a  reality.  The distillery may lay dormant, mothballed, as time  marches on, awaiting a new owner with deeper pockets and bigger dreams.   Port Ellen, unfortunately, is history.  The distillery that  once produced Islay’s most cult and collectible spirit is now a maltings that supplies malted barley to the island’s  operational distilleries.

Fortunately  stocks of Port Ellen are still to be found.  Oft released as indie  bottling at neutered abv’s, it is a treat to see  releases like the Diageo Port Ellens.  In  this particular case we are looking at a 30 year old whisky at a still  impressive 57.7%.  This presentation allows us to see Port Ellen in  all ‘er glory.  And she is  lovely.

The  nose is typical of Islay.  There is a somewhat fragile and  ephemeral quality here.  Slightly surprising when you consider  bottling strength.  A most trusted friend (the incomparable Maltmonster) suggested the closest one would get to a Port  Ellen would be Caol Ila.  I see where he was coming from.   The same delicacy I’ve noted in regards to that malt is to be found here  as well.

There  are notes of smoke and briny seaside fire.  Light waves of  chocolate.  A hint of something still fresh that adds to that  fragility.  Almost like a faded eucalyptus.  There is  a sexy maturity at play here.  Age becomes almost a note in and of  itself.  You know it is mature, but can’t quite put a finger on  what defines that knowledge.

After  opening up, fruits arrive on the palate.  A neat sweetness.   …Bubblegum, almost?  Dry smoke and a rubbery wax linger and  it finally ebbs into that tart peaty green apple skin familiarity.

It is  bittersweet to drink this piece of history.  On the one hand, we’re  fortunate to have experienced it.  On the other…well…when it’s  gone…it’s really gone.

Did it  live up to my (high) expectations?  Indeed.  Here is  the hype of Port Ellen vindicated

- Reviewed by:  Curt

- Photo:  Curt