More than any other whisky distillery Port Ellen stands out as a lost and lamented spirit. Of all the distilleries that were sadly closed in the 1980s it was the 1983 loss of Port Ellen that came to be mourned the most, and inspired the most joy when the distillery reopened in 2024. This was undoubtedly helped by the fact that Port Ellen is a peated malt from Islay, a fact that already lends its cult status, but also because there have been literally hundreds of bottlings of it over the years. 

Port Ellen was mothballed in 1926 and did not reopen until 1967; consequently we have a very specific 16 year window of production during which all the legendary malts were produced. There were not as many bottlings from the initial years of production as there are from the latter, which is a shame as they are often stunning with a beautifully complex and austere fruitiness, green and tropical fruits with steely, oily peat flavours and rich coastal intensity.

The profile of Port Ellen evolved a little throughout the 1970s, and after 1974 it started to move towards what we would recognize as a 'later' profile. The fruitiness was becoming gentler and less intense by the late seventies but the intensity of the coastal characteristics and the immense oiliness and petrol-like attributes were increasing. Later, Port Ellen's character evolved again, moving like most distilleries towards a more modern style. These whiskies display very pristine coastal and mineral characters often with a trademark slightly dirty, smoky, coal-like peatiness to them as well.