Editor’s Note: This whisky was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review. It should also be noted that by clicking the buy link in this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs.
One reason of many to love Scotch whisky is the number of great quotes it has inspired. “The King o’drink, as I conceive it, Talisker, Islay, or Glenlivet!” – Robert Louis Stevenson. “Happiness is having a rare steak, a bottle of whisky, and a dog to eat the rare steak.” – Johnny Carson. Or my favorite old Irish proverb – “What whisky will not cure, there is no cure for.”
Funny and perhaps hyperbolic, these quotes are an expression of how important Scotch is to Scotland: the industry accounts for 80% of Scottish food and drink exports and has a value of £5 billion to the UK economy.
Yet, Scotch is no one thing and no one flavor. In general, there are five recognized regions of Scotch, each with discernable differences in flavor and consistency, including the Highlands, Speyside, Lowlands, Campbeltown, and Islay. The northern Island region is arguably a sixth area. Generally, each region, has a generally recognized profile. Highland whisky tends toward bolder flavors, such as oak, fruit cake, and sometimes smoke; Speyside produces sweet and subtle whisky with profiles of apple, vanilla, spice, and is often aged in sherry casks; the Lowlands generally produces whisky without peat flavors, focusing on silky and light whiskies of toffee and cinnamon; Campbeltown whiskies tends to be a bit sweater; and Islay is, of course, famous for the bold peat and marine flavors.
Today, I am reviewing a 1983 Port Ellen 40-year-old Single Malt Whisky, bottled by Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky Ltd. Port Ellen is one of a number of famous closed distilleries in Scotland which are undergoing a revival due to the whisky boom. Established in 1825 on the Isle of Islay (pronounced “eye-la”), the distillery was active until 1930, closed, then reopened in 1967, and then closed again in 1983, leaving its existing whisky stock to mature.
In 2017, Diageo (an enormous spirits conglomerate) announced a £35 million ($42.5 million) investment to revive the mothballed distillery, and is set to open its doors to the public in 2023, hopefully recreating the original taste of Port Ellen whisky, a medium peat with plenty of maritime characters. Port Ellen whiskies are predominantly matured in American oak refill casks (ex-bourbon), which tend to add less wood flavor that would mask the smoke.
This 40-year-old expression of Port Ellen was matured, unusually, in a European Oak ex-sherry butt, which is over twice the size of a standard American whiskey barrel. Perfect for lengthy aging, the butt’s larger cask reduces the surface area touching the whisky, slowing down the aging process, generally providing a smoother and mellower end product.
Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky, a private bottler who has been saving the Port Ellen expressions for decades, said this about the dram: “…we’ve patiently waited for [the Port Ellen Casks] to mature, bringing that rich, dark colour to the liquid. The cask created an evocative whisky that embraces the peat from the kilns and the brine of the sea, alongside a succulent rich fruity base. It’s one of the finest whiskies we’ve launched this year.”
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And boy, has their patience paid off. Almost viscous in it’s delivery, the age of the dram has turned the peat and sherry into an entirely new and unified flavor, covering the tongue in an inexorable flow rather than a short and intense burst. For the low low price of $7300, with only 209 bottles in existence, this dream dram can be yours if you can find it, and will be about as easy to find as finding the end of a rainbow. Still, if you are lucky enough, drink gently as it is the stuff of legends.
Tasting Notes: Duncan Taylor 1983 Port Ellen 40 Year
Vital Stats: Barreled in 1983 and aged for 40 years in a European Oak ex-sherry butt. 104.8 proof (52.4% ABV). $7,300/700ml.
Appearance: Ruby with tints of auburn.
Nose: Not peaty, but at the same time, airs of fish brine and salt delicately combine with blackberry and allspice. Medicinal smells of band-aid are subtle and mostly overpowered by leather.
Palate: An intense cornucopia of dark treacle and smoke cover bitter cacao and blackberry ganache, which lushly coat the tongue. The palate changes to oyster shell and charcoal, with a finish of dark cherry fruit, malt and pecans.
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