Buy rare and selected Port Ellen Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky online

The Port Ellen distillery was founded in 1825 by Alexander Kerr Mackay on the south coast of the Scottish island of Islay and is located in the village of the same name, Port Ellen. In the following years, particularly under the management of John Ramsay (from 1836), the distillery was known for a number of innovations, such as the early use of a Coffey still (mainly for grain whisky) and the establishment of direct trade routes to North America. In 1920, Iain Ramsay of Kildalton, a nephew of John Ramsay, sold the distillery to James Buchanan and Co. and John Dewars and Sons Ltd, which merged with Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in 1925. The distillery was closed for the first time in 1929. After modernisation and doubling the number of stills from two to four, the distillery was reopened in 1966. In 1973, an extremely spacious malt house was added, which still supplies Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Lagavulin and partly Bunnahabhain, Kilchoman and Laphroaig. The peat used comes from the nearby Castlehill Moor. The Port Ellen distillery was closed again in May 1983. In 1987, it was sold to United Distillers (UD) and parts of the plant were dismantled. The licence for whisky production, which was held by Low, Robertson and Co until 1992, has not existed since then. The distillery was largely demolished, the existing warehouses were used by Lagavulin for many years and Port Ellen is therefore one of the closed distilleries. Water from Leorin Loch was used for production until the closure. With a mash tun of over 5.5 tonnes and eight wash backs totalling 240,000 litres as well as two wash stills of 28,000 litres each and two spirit stills of 25,000 litres each, an output of 0.8 million litres was achieved.
After the closure, the remaining casks of Port Ellen whisky became extremely sought-after and the whisky gained cult status as a lost distillery. Bottlings, especially the annual releases by Diageo as part of the Special Releases series, became highly priced collector s items and were appreciated by connoisseurs for their quality and complexity. After years of speculation and to the delight of many whisky fans, Diageo announced plans to rebuild and reopen the Port Ellen distillery. After extensive construction work aimed at incorporating both traditional methods (e.g. by replicating the old stills) and modern technology, the distillery officially reopened in March 2024. However, it will be many years before the first new Port Ellen whisky is launched on the market after sufficient maturation.
Old original bottlings from the Port Ellen distillery are becoming increasingly rare and can almost only be found at special auctions organised by renowned auction houses such as Krüger, Bonhams or Christies, but are subject to increasing price increases. The Diageo Group releases the existing rare old stocks in annual limited special editions with small batches. Despite the now high prices, these are usually sold out within a short time and have almost cult status among connoisseurs. In addition, independent bottlers such as Cadenheads, Douglas Laing, Duncan Taylor, James MacArthur and others produce many outstanding single cask whiskies and excellent old bottlings, which are particularly sought after by connoisseurs and whisky lovers and beautifully present the original character of the old Port Ellen distillery.
Port Ellen single malt whiskies are known for their pronounced maritime and smoky character, with a strong peat smoke often described as tarry, medicinal or phenolic. The smoke is concise, but is often perceived as very clean and precise. The old bottlings clearly show the typical salty, maritime influences with notes of seaweed, iodine and sea breeze; depending on the cask maturation, there are often more subtle flavours in addition to the strong smoke and maritime notes. These include citrus notes (lemon, lime), sometimes a subtle sweetness (vanilla) or traces of green fruit or sherry with an oily or waxy texture. Despite its power, Port Ellen is often praised for its amazing balance and complexity. The different elements (smoke, salt, sweetness, fruit) are usually well integrated and the finish is typically long, warming, smoky and salty.