Port Ellen 1978 20 Year Old

Pe2 Elements of Islay

The second Port Ellen from the Elements of Islay-range – the so called PE2 – is as rare as the first. It sold out in less than 24 hours. If you want to get hands on this, be prepared to break the piggy bank! I tried it H2H with the PE1. This one is a tad darker than the first one. This one too has a heavy nose, but is a lot softer than PE1. More...

Score 90/100

Port Ellen 1983 26 Year Shinanoya 'Chess-Castling'

Nose: Oh, beautiful peat. It's briney with waxy lemon, and a very limited amount of tire and diesel fuel. Fruity, mangoes, apricots, quince jam. It just turns very lush tropical fruit. Slightly salty peat, vanilla, and licorice. Pressed violet petals or something floral. Full and still elegant. One of the more beautiful peat profiles that I've...

Score 91/100

Port Ellen 11 Year Old 1983 The Cooper’s Choice

This young Port Ellen, distilled in the last year that the (old) distillery was still operational, has been in the bottle for almost three times as long as it has ever spent in the cask. After all, this was already bottled in 1995 – at the age of 11 – under the 'The Cooper's Choice' label of the Vintage Malt Whisky Co. At the time of release very...

Score 87/100

Port Ellen 28 Year Old 1982 for QV.ID

I prevously praised the Coal Ila and Bowmore that were released by Belgian bottler QV.ID, but this was the first release by Koen: a 28 Year Old Port Ellen. Initially, the nose is very sweet with a lot of vanilla and young apples. I thought this was a sherry cask? Some marzipan and chestnut, but the sherry remains quiet. That doesn’t mean the nose...

Score 91/100