Port Ellen 40 Year Old 9 Rogue Casks, the second release in the distillery's Untold Stories series. It brings together nine casks filled in 1979 that were set aside because they did not taste like typical Port Ellen, and it was bottled at a natural 50.9% ABV in an edition of 1,380 bottles.
About This Whisky
In 1979 a small parcel of Port Ellen casks was found to have flavours that strayed from the house style. The blenders of the day had no use for them, so they were marked and left to mature. Forty years later master blender Dr Craig Wilson chose nine of them, four American oak hogsheads and five European oak butts, each still recognisably Port Ellen but with its own quirks. Some brought green, oily and herbal notes, others leather and tropical fruit. They were vatted together and bottled at cask strength with no added colour.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Delicate and grassy at first, with burnt tangerine skin, mild smoke, crème caramel, red fruit compote and ripe peach skin.
- Palate: Bonfire smoke comes through more strongly here, with pipe tobacco, leather, wood spice and a thread of waxy tropical fruit.
- Finish: Long, with wisps of smoke, citrus peel and tea leaves.
Serving & Food
Pour a small measure into a nosing glass and let it breathe; the nose opens noticeably with a few drops of water. Serve after dinner with nothing heavy alongside, perhaps a plate of dried apricots, walnuts or a thin slice of aged Parmigiano.
How to Enjoy
Port Ellen devotees who want a bottling with a different personality from the Special Releases, and a gift to mark a 1979 birth year or a 40th anniversary.
Product Details
Distillery: Port Ellen
Region: Islay, Scotland
Series: Port Ellen Untold Stories, second release
Expression: 9 Rogue Casks
Distilled: 1979
Age: 40 years old
Style: Single malt Scotch whisky
Casks: Four American oak hogsheads and five European oak butts
Outturn: 1,380 bottles
ABV: 50.9%
Volume: 700mL
Origin: Scotland
About the Distillery
After 1983 Port Ellen looked like a finished story. That changed in October 2017, when Diageo announced it would rebuild the distillery alongside Brora. The project grew far beyond first plans, and Port Ellen reopened on 19 March 2024, making spirit again for the first time in more than forty years. Georgie Crawford, then named as the distillery's future master distiller, unveiled this bottling during the first online Fèis Ìle in 2020, four years before the stills ran again.