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Featured: Port Ellen Whisky Distillery

The Collection

The Distillery

Port Ellen was established in a former malt mill on Islay’s south coast in 1825 and quickly developed into a leading distillery. Silent for a long while after the depression of the 1930s, it was re-fitted and re-opened in 1967. It closed in 1983, but the extraordinary character of the whisky made during this short sixteen year period has since made Port Ellen one of the world’s most desirable and highly sought after single malts.

Back when it was in production, whisky from Port Ellen was almost exclusively used in blends, but the global growth in the popularity of single malts has coincided with the liquid’s elevation to cult status among whisky aficionados looking for rarity and exceptional quality. As stocks have dwindled, global demand has continued to increase. Port Ellen bottlings are regularly traded on the secondary auction market and are some of the most desirable, with a bottle of the Port Ellen Queen’s Visit 12-Year-Old 1980 fetching £50,000 at an auction in 2019.

Often, it is the most distinctive, characterful single malts that most enthuse connoisseurs and collectors. ‘And Port Ellen is certainly that,’ says Georgie Crawford, who grew up in the village of Port Ellen and future distillery manager of Port Ellen distillery. She holds her glass up so the golden, straw-coloured liquid catches the light. ‘Even Port Ellen whiskies in their late 30s are so refined and so elegant. There is always that smoke from the local peat, but smoke levels go up and down. And, because recent bottlings have been from a select number of casks, under 3,000 for each release, you get distinct, very different flavours. They’re almost like perfumes, in a way.’
Master Blender

This phenomenal complexity is one which Islay fans adore and has helped to build Port Ellen’s reputation, so much so that it has been used at the heart of a Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost & Rare release. Demonstrating the global interest in this celestial distillery and the distinctive character of the liquid, selective releases of Port Ellen have been made available to the public from the reserves since 2019, such as the Port Ellen 39 Year Old The Spirit Safe, Port Ellen 40 Year Old 9 Rogue Casks, and more recently a Port Ellen Vintage 1979 feature in the luxury Prima & Ultima inaugural collection.

Port Ellen

The Future of Port Ellen

In 2017 it was announced that Port Ellen would end its decades-long closure and, thanks to a £35 million investment, be re-opened, along with another Diageo-owned ghost distillery, Brora. The move has been welcomed by collectors and whisky lovers the world over. However, Crawford believes that there is more to awakening this sleeping giant than merely assembling structures and machinery that mimic the workings of the original distillery. ‘It’s so complex,’ she says. ‘There’s an ethereal quality to the liquid and to the distillery itself. It’s not easy to grasp what makes it special, or what makes it what it is. That’s the romance of it. But the people definitely matter. As does the place.’

Our Port Ellen Collection

  • A bottle of Port Ellen 40 Year Old 9 Rogue Casks, Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky with box, drawer pulled out with 2 keys
    Engraveable
    from $10,598.00
    from $10,598.00

    Port Ellen 40 Year Old 9 Rogue Casks Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 70cl

    View Product
  • S$15,342.00
    $15,342.00
    Sold out

    Port Ellen 1980 Single Malt Whisky Prima & Ultima Collection lll, 41 Year Old

    View Product
  • Port Ellen 1979 - Prima & Ultima, Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky bottle and box against a white background
    S$11,900.00
    $11,900.00
    Sold out

    Port Ellen 1979 40 Year Old Prima & Ultima Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 70cl

    View Product
Port Ellen

Port Ellen Nine Rogue Casks

In 1979, some years before Port Ellen’s stills fell silent, a small parcel of Port Ellen stock was identified as holding unusual or rogue characteristics. The casks were tagged and set aside by the master blenders of the time, to be considered in the future. 

Forty years on, today’s master blender Dr Craig Wilson discovered that these rare qualities had been further enhanced. He carefully selected nine particularly special casks from the original stock, each identifiably Port Ellen and yet each had its own defining character different from the next. Skillfully blending together these nine casks, four American oak hogsheads and five European oak butts, Dr Wilson set out to showcase a new dimension of Port Ellen unlike any before. 

The result is a whisky even greater than the sum of its parts. Port Ellen’s signature soft peat smoke and rich sweet aromas, are met with a more refined character that is unusually layered and distinctive. The medium peated style holds a lighter character, with unusual flavour notes and a hint of aromatic spice and cinnamon. 

These rogue characteristics originally ensured this whisky’s survival, preventing its use by blenders of the 1980’s. Now, decades later, these quirky nine individual casks are celebrated and take centre stage of a momentous 40-year-old Single Malt. 

Port Ellen 9 Rogue Casks is the oldest and rarest public release from the distillery, with just 1,380 bottles. Each sip offers an opportunity to experience the next chapter of Port Ellen’s Untold Story. 

Reach out to our private client team for more enquiries on our Port Ellen collection.

Enquiries

Reach out to our private client team for more enquiries on our Port Ellen collection.
PrivateClientSG@Diageo.com