🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

Really balanced, good level of smoke and peat, well integrated, very drinkable - pretty good

Smoked, Bacon, candied citrus, iodine, nuts, marzipan, raisin, toffee, a solid port ellen

Outstanding, as was to be expected. 480 EUR is quite expensive, but then again, this is a grand Port Ellen.

Serge on Whiskyfun: Hold on, this was Port Ellen! I have to confess I had never taken notice, or I would have tried this baby a long time ago. Mea Culpa, mea maxima Culpa! Colour: gold. Nose: it's a lighter one for sure, I don't get much heavy tarriness, rather a little rubber (new wellies) and just sourdough and other bready notes. Leaven and seashells, plus a little gasoline. With water: acetic peat, balsamic vinegar, slightly vinegary oloroso, smoked almonds… In truth this is getting better. A fatter Islayer then any of its neighbours. Plastics. Mouth (neat): there, roots, tar, liquorice, rubber, smoked tea, bitter oranges… This time it would gather its forces. With water: there, it unfolds on coastal notes, salty resins, sweeter brine (red peppers?)… It's really getting there, becoming medicinal at that, salty, iodine-y. Looks like it just wanted to take its time. Which, as we all know, is the secret of success. Finish: long, salty, peppery and really 'something else'. No wonder the owners wanted to restart this. Comments: a belated thank you Thomas for this one! I knew it as about a lighthouse, I hadn't noticed it was about Port Ellen's. Feeling deep shame. Have I told you I just loved this bottle? I'd swear there's even some kind of terroir inside. SGP:467 - 93 points. http://www.whiskyfun.com/

07/04/2021: A very good Port Ellen which I find despite everything a little heavy and greasy. 02/05/2022: Still as good, it seemed more lemony and creamy to me than I remembered, but still as oily and good.

The highlight is the subtle and complex nose. The palate improved since bottle opening. It's now more balanced. An excellent Port Ellen.

sweet, elegant and multi-dimensional, it combines the exquisite, peated sweetness of a Lagavulin.. the honest, brute force of an Ardbeg and the farmy dirtiness of a Port Charlotte.. a 2 cl sample is just like a too short peek into heaven.. like setting up the snooze button for only 5 minutes.. gone too soom, but, oh, so precious !

Yess a really good Port Ellen.

Nose: Soft and balanced; quite perfect sherry, quite sweet. Body: Sweet tobacco, leather, hay and lapsong suchong tea, with some sherry in the background but in no way dominant. Finish: very pleasant peaty finish.

What a stunner! It's been years since I opened a bottle of Port Ellen (how can you???), but my dad and I, stuck in a pandemic together, decided it was time to dig deep into "do not touch" bottles, and I'm so happy we did. You only live once, right? My first impression - believe it or not - was that this is what it would taste like if you took a Lagavulin 16 white horse bottling and super-aged it for 30+ years, then made it cask-strength. It's subtle, complex, harmonious, and simply gorgeous. The nose is - beyond the obvious peat - full of creamy vanillas and butterscotch, something I'd normally associate with a bourbon cask but I think this is sherry (?). A touch of mint starts to speak up after a minute, like in many beautiful old Islayers from this era. A whiff of old school pink bubble gum... Maybe a hint of tire. The mouthfeel is oily and viscous and coating, full of white ash. The finish is the real killer for me. It waits a few seconds, then ascends like a wave, full of wet cigar tobacco and that same white ash. After a moment, a boggy, musty decomposition takes over and defines it to the end. That part reminds me of some of the legendary cask strength Lagavulins from the 80s... Now add plenty of black liquorice and fennel, a little like those candy desserts at Indian restaurants... Don't worry, I know this isn't Lagavulin, but so much of it reminds me of it. I guess I just have such little reference points for Port Ellen. So good.

Full review here: https://tastingbros.com/2021/01/24/200th-review-anniversary-crazy-session/

Nose on a marine peat, with candied lemon, iodine, and motor oil. The kind of nose that tells a lot and that constantly evolves in the glass, it starts strong. On the palate it is powerful, oily, with a big peat on the cold ashtray. With time it is more the garage and sludge side that emerges, we keep it in the mouth for a long time afterwards ... It's funny because there is a classy peat side and then comes the engine oil, delicious