This 22 year old bottling from The Rare Malts Selection is a true rarity. The distillery closed its doors in the 1980s and has since never reopened since, 15 years after its closures, its owners deciding to bottle the casks that continued to mature there. Here we offer a tasting of the single malt d…More info
This 22 year old bottling from The Rare Malts Selection is a true rarity. The distillery closed its doors in the 1980s and has since never reopened since, 15 years after its closures, its owners deciding to bottle the casks that continued to mature there. Here we offer a tasting of the single malt distilled in 1978, a precious nectar from the famous Isle of Islay bottled at 60.5%.
In a tasting, you will discover a very maritime whisky with iodine and peaty notes, a delight for the taste buds that will take you deep into Scotland’’s sea spray. The whisky is a golden yellow colour. On the nose, it is easy to pick out this iodine sea air, as well as the whisky’’s smoky, vanilla and peaty dimension. A handful of almond and dried fruit notes also caress the nostrils. On the palate, the texture is creamy, wit notes of pepper and chocolate. This is a powerful and rugged nectar with menthol notes at the end of the nose. The finish exceptionally long.
We of course recommend pairing this whisky with seafood products to play on the iodine aspect. Why not, for example, with flambéed king prawns?
Scotland, Isle of Islay. Distillery operational. Owner: Diageo
Single-handedly kept afloat by the leading players in the independent bottlers market until the early 21st century, Port Ellen owes its salvation to the growing fervour of fans of peated whiskies. Like many distilleries a victim of the 1980s recession, Port Ellen closed in May 1983, never to distil again. It was in 1998, 15 years after its closure, that its owners bottled two limited versions, one celebrating the 25th anniversary of the eponymous maltings, and the other for the Rare Malts Selection. It would then not be until the turn of the millennium that Port Ellen would be awarded a finally crafted regular bottling, focusing on the years of production 1978 and 1979.Paradoxically, the youngest versions are the hardest to find, such as the Signatory Vintage Black Ceramic 10 Year Old and 13 Year Old. Although most were bottled at 40-43%, they still offer the chance to experience the spirit's profile without the wood having too much influence. In any case, the oldest vintage still available today from a handful of collectors is a Port Ellen distilled in 1967 or 1968 (the distillery was mothballed from 1929 to 1 April 1968), aged 12 years old and produced to mark the Queen's visit to the distillery on 9 August 1980.
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