Port Ellen Distillery (Closed 1983)
ABV 47.1%
Sweet, salty and smoky. Ticking all those Islay boxes.
Laura Foster
That Boutique-y Whisky Company
Brand
Batch 5
Expression
Single Malt
Type
No age statement
Age (Years)
2016
Year of Bottling
47.1%
ABV
Islay
Region/Country
Independent Bottling
Bottling Type
Taster
Nose: Tropical fruits and TCP (sounds like the name of an indie band). Cut pineapple, lime, plasters and sea shells. Toasted marshmallows on the beach. Fun!
Palate: Chantilly cream, charred lime pith, toffee sweets, apricots and Royal Gala apples. Burnt firewood washes up in the briny sea while you’re sipping a dry-hopped beer.
Finish: Charcoal, vanilla, sea shells and cooked bananas.
Comment: Sweet, salty and smoky. Ticking all those Islay boxes.
Score: 8
Taster
Nose: Very ashy; Lapsang souchong and bonfires. Citrus. Bananas. Once the smoke fades there’s creamy fudge, traces of vanilla. Water reveals damp moss and grass.
Palate: The ashy side of peat. Not at all sweet. Kiwi fruit and green apples, with pineapples and grapefruit. Water doesn’t enhance at all, but brings out some orange notes.
Finish: Short, smoky and maybe too bitter, but pleasantly warming on its final beat.
Comment: Perhaps the casks were average, but this felt rather bland under the smoke.
Score: 7.3
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