Nowadays most of the Port Ellen releases are from 1978/1979 (e.g. official annual releases) or 1982/1983 (e.g. recent Signatory or Douglas Laing releases). Both periods share lots of common features but a few characteristic differences as well. Would be interesting to do a comparison one day…

Port Ellen 26 yo 1982 (56,4%, Old Bothwell 2009, cask #2545)

Nose: quite citrusy at first. Hints of lemon yoghurt. Not much peat, nor smoke, but loads of vanilla and a slight floweriness. Some farmy notes as well, which I think is great. Hints of plaster. Very nice. Mouth: a blast of peat smoke which you wouldn’t expect from the nose. Quite hot, very invading and peppery. Lots of salt water, getting really mineral and bitter towards the finish (tonic with lemon zest). High on aspirin. A tad too austere for me. Finish: very long, dry, still quite bitter.

This Port Ellen has a wonderful nose, but the aspirin on the palate wasn’t exactly what I expected. Still, if your looking for a flinty, austere Port Ellen, this surely deserves your attention.
Around € 150.

Score: 86/100