Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
My 200th scotch review feels like a good occasion for some unique little bottles from the back of the scotch closet.
Tasted on 6/26/2022, neat in a Glencairn, water added later as appropriate.
Port Ellen 35 Year 14th Release
Purchased in the US in 2016 for way, way, way too much. Moved to multiple 250ml bottles in 2017, this one sat undisturbed until last summer IIRC. I kept the original bottle and packaging, which is rare for me, but did I mention it cost way too much? It is delicious, though.
Distillery: Port Ellen
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 56.5%, cask strength
Age: 35 years old. Distilled in 1978. Bottled in 2014.
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. #2,590 of 2,964 bottles.
Nose: earthy peat smoke. Iodine. Seaweed. Eucalyptus. Creosote. Lemon, grapefruit. Dry grass. Coal. Diesel. A bit floral, moreso with time. Growing more maritime, too. Tea. With Water: more floral. Pine. Heather. More fruit.
Taste: smoke, earthy peat. Eucalyptus & pepper. Lemon. Diesel oil. A bit hot. Oily mouthfeel. Grassy. Coal. Tar. Oak. With Water: heat is gone, more drying. More fruit. More spice building. Creosote. More grass.
Finish: big pop of earthy peat smoke. Pepper. Lemon, grapefruit. Strong tea. Seawater. Iodine. Fresh-cut grass. Some tannic bitterness. Long, well balanced throughout. With Water: even more smoke, more spice. A little bit more dry. More grassy, floral notes.
Summary: not at all subtle, which some might expect from a 35yr. Excellent smoke w/ maritime, medicinal, and citrus notes all wrapped up with a bunch of oil and tar. Some nice floral, grassiness here too which comes up more w/ water. A touch tannic, but it works quite well w/ the rest. It opens up more w/ time, and even more w/ a few drops of water. Beautiful balance overall, right through to the finish, and reasonable complexity. An excellent bottle all around.
Would I buy a bottle? no. If I’m gonna go crazy again there are many other bottles I’d put that money towards.
Final Score: 93.
Port Ellen 35 Year (1982) Signatory Vintage 30th Anniversary
One of SV’s 30th anniversary bottlings, purchased by a friend who kindly gave me this 1oz sample. Quite different from the OB releases, being a single sherry cask, and I always feel like this one is impressive for how the sherry does not dominate after 35 years.
Distillery: Port Ellen
Bottler: Signatory Vintage (SV)
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 55.1%, cask strength
Age: 35 years old. Distilled on 09/02/1982. Bottled on 07/31/2018.
Cask type: Refill Sherry Butt
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 567 bottles, from a single cask #2040.
Nose: subtle. Lemon. Sea spray, wet beach rocks in the sun. Eucalyptus. Mild coal smoke. Earthy peat. Gun oil. Smoldering candle. With Water: a touch more smoke and fruit. Still subtle. More mineral.
Taste: subtle smoke. Lemon. Sea spray. Oil. Wax. Walnuts. A little iodine. Oily mouthfeel. Mild tar. With Water: same
Finish: big, lots of smoke. A little coal gas. Seawater. Eucalyptus, pepper. Tar. Walnuts. Lemon. Long on smoke, seawater, and mild spice. With Water: a bit more spice now. Longer still?
Summary: not as complex as the OB 35 at all, but extremely good. A handful of notes that work beautifully together without one really dominating over the other. It’s a subtle one, that’s for sure. Coming back to nose it after either of the others and it’s very muted, but some time with the glass and it becomes apparent again. The longest finish of the group, but again, a simple yet excellent one. I don’t get much sherry influence on this one at all. Water doesn’t change it much, and I’d skip it in the future.
Would I buy a bottle? maybe, at a reasonable price. I almost pulled the trigger on one of these myself at the time, and in retrospect I should have.
Final Score: 93.
Port Ellen 25 Year (1982) Douglas Laing “Old Malt Cask”
IIRC, I bought this from the local state store back in 2009 for, get this, just over $100. How times have changed. Last rebottled in 2017, it’s finally almost gone. It’s lasted so long not because it’s rare, but because it’s just not especially good. There’s high variability in PE IBs, and this is a good example. It’s also fun to trot this out at a tasting and see the disappointment creep across their faces.
Distillery: Port Ellen
Bottler: Douglas Laing (DL)
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 50.0%
Age: 25 years old. Distilled in 11/1982. Bottled in 01/2008.
Cask type: Refill Butt
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 589 bottles, from a single cask #DL 4112.
Nose: peat, wood smoke. Lemon, grapefruit. Machine oil. An oddly farmy, wet mud, decay note that’s hard to pin down. Seawater. Ethanol. Vanilla cream. Fabric softener. With Water: more vanilla, honey. More smoke.
Taste: a bit thin, watery. Wood smoke. Grapefruit. A bit tannic, dry. Thin mouthfeel. A little pepper. Some oil. Cream. Some of that muddy, decayed note from the nose. With Water: same
Finish: nice wood smoke, some peat. Citrus. Mild pepper. Eucalyptus, pepper. Some tar. Seawater. Honey. Wet mud. Feels a bit thin here, too. Long on smoke and maritime notes with a bit of spice. With Water: a bit more spice, little bit dry now.
Summary: an odd one with that weird farmy, muddy, decaying note throughout. Nice otherwise w/ some good smoke, peat, citrus, and oily notes. It’s a bit thin and watery, though, and I feel like the finish is the best part with a nice pop of wood smoke mixed in with citrus, sea, and some lovey spice. Water doesn’t do much for it at all.
Would I buy a bottle? no
Final Score: 82.
Comparison
Order: 35 OB > 35 SV >> 25 DL
It’s a tough call between the OB and SV 35’s. Do you want more complexity, or a clean, simple, pure dram that’s also excellent? Tonight I went for the OB. After 2 hours this is the one I’ve come back to the most, it’s got more interest, and I’m digging the grassy, floral notes in the finish.
The 25yr is marred by that odd funky note, poor balance, and that thin mouthfeel and finish. This underperforms for sure, and is not what you’d expect when you start with “25yr from Islay.”
You’ll wonder, fairly, if my ratings are skewed by the rarity of these bottles. That name. Port Ellen. I’ve had these long enough, and enough times, that I can say, unequivocally, no. The splendor has worn off for me for sure.
Let’s talk about cost, which I don’t usually like to do, but it’s the elephant in the room here. If the 35s’ prices were in the realm of normal old bottlings, then they’d both be buys. They’re excellent. But there’s scarcity value and then there’s the ludicrous, crazy, tatter-tastic factor of PE. It’s nuts.
NGL, the OB 35 cost $3k. Did I ever get $3k of value out of it? Nope. The juice isn’t worth $3k to me. What value I have gotten has been in sharing it w/ friends over the years who can appreciate it. I’ve taken this bottle to tastings and we’ve all ooh’d and ahh’d, but at the end of the day we moved on to other bottles, and the PE was not the most memorable. It’s very good, but I haven’t heard anyone say “it’s $3k good.”
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 