Port Ellen 26 Years Old Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection Cask:231 55.7% 1983

Professional reviews

Whisky Notes (93)

Nose: like an embering fire on a beach, that you’ve just fuelled with some diesel oil. Smokey and coastal. Sweet hints of almonds, or even better, almond butter cookies. Some wax and lemon. Hints of overripe fruits, could this be the wine influence? Quite medicinal as well. Really high-end. Water makes it a bit more feminine, with a tiny hint of vanilla, more wax and hints of fruity wine. Pretty awesome. Mouth: big and compact, peaty, sweet and salty at the same time. Pepper and citrus. Lots of iodine. Grows sharper over time. Very explosive. Here as well, water lifts the sweeter notes, mutes the peat and highlights some zesty citrus. Finish: peppery and grassy hints, fading on sweet peat smoke.

Don’t be fooled by the wine treatment, this is an exceptional Port Ellen that compromises very little. It’s great to play around with water and watch it switch between its monstruous peat side and its feminine vanilla side.