Port Ellen 16 Year Old 1980 Merengali Import

This is another one of those golden oldies that has spent 24 years in the bottle now, more than it ever spent in the cask. And it’s from the legendary Port Ellen distillery, bottled by Gordon & Macphail and imported to Italy by Merengali. Thanks to my buddy Manny I was able to secure a sample of this nowhere-to-be-found bottle.

The nose is dusty, sweet and just a tad maritime. Oranges and sultanas, which suggests a sherry cask. It does suffer slightly from OBE, giving it a bit of a metallic scent, so I need to be patient. With some air it opens up, but remains very soft.

It’s a tad oily and very sweet, but now the peat certainly comes to the fore, wrapping the citrus fruit – and some apples now – in a blanket of soft smoke and some wood spices. Think liquorice and just a pinch of pepper. A salty edge in the background. Nice, but just a bit too docile to my taste, which is probably due to the ABV which I suspect has dipped below 40% after all these years.

The finish is rather short with a touch of smoke and both lemon and oranges at the death.

Very old school Port Elle, which is lovely but not magical, probably due to the young age. Sometimes I catch myself on the fact that we are very spoilt.

Find where to buy Port Ellen whisky