Friday 9 December 2016

Port Ellen 1978 Rare Malts: TWE Show Report

Hey everyone,

At the show I wanted to try stuff I might never get the chance to try again, especially at little cost (compared to normal).
So I was able to try the Brora then walked over to another stand (scotchwhisky.com) and tried a Port Ellen (for 2 dream drams). This really blows the old Brora away. Sorry not sorry Brora.

Port Ellen Rare Malts 1978 20yo 60.9%
Colour: Gold
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Not what I would expect from heavily peated Islay. Old school oak (good refill), floral, some tropical fruit, perfumed smoke, black pepper. Talisker-esque for me.
Water: More perfume, floral, elegant. Biscuit and malt.
Taste: Soft. Wait, what? Islay at 60% alc and it lands like a feather on the tongue. Perfumed smoke, floral, tropical fruit, black pepper, old school oak. It builds.
Water: Soft, great balance, building spice with more black pepper, very very oily with green peppercorns.
Finish: Long length. A tonne of chocolate! Epic. Water brings more oiliness, olive oil and more oak.
89/100

Amazing stuff. Really not what I was expecting from a heavily peated South Islay distillery at a high strength. But a pleasant surprise.
Actually it reminds me a lot of a Talisker, which is always a good thing. Very very different to its brothers on the same stretch of shore.

Review #210

Network Average: 75.4
Best Score: 92
Worst Score: 44
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

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