Port Ellen 25 years 1982 Signatory Vintage Cask n°645 - One of 486 - bottled 2007 Cask Strength Collection (Brown)

Scotland, Isle of Islay. Distillery operational. Owner: Diageo

Single-handedly kept afloat by the leading players in the independent bottlers market until the early 21st century, Port Ellen owes its salvation to the growing fervour of fans of peated whiskies. Like many distilleries a victim of the 1980s recession, Port Ellen closed in May 1983, never to distil again. It was in 1998, 15 years after its closure, that its owners bottled two limited versions, one celebrating the 25th anniversary of the eponymous maltings, and the other for the Rare Malts Selection. It would then not be until the turn of the millennium that Port Ellen would be awarded a finally crafted regular bottling, focusing on the years of production 1978 and 1979.Paradoxically, the youngest versions are the hardest to find, such as the Signatory Vintage Black Ceramic 10 Year Old and 13 Year Old. Although most were bottled at 40-43%, they still offer the chance to experience the spirit's profile without the wood having too much influence. In any case, the oldest vintage still available today from a handful of collectors is a Port Ellen distilled in 1967 or 1968 (the distillery was mothballed from 1929 to 1 April 1968), aged 12 years old and produced to mark the Queen's visit to the distillery on 9 August 1980.

A Port Ellen single cask (#645) distilled in 1982, matured in a refill sherry cask and bottled in 2007 by Signatory Vintage. Signatory Vintage’s founder Andrew Symington first joined the whisky industry when he began selecting casks for Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh. In 1988, the adventure continued when he founded Signatory Vintage, investing in a small bottling chain set up in his warehouses in Edinburgh. He began releasing editions bottled at cask strength without chillfiltration or colouring, practices that were still rare in the late 1980s. The legendary series of “Dumpy bottles” notably included information previously seldom seen on labels, such as the cask number, cask type and number of bottles. The bottle number was also written by hand. Signatory Vintage developed a strong reputation by selling not only iconic whiskies from well-known distilleries (Springbank, Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Bowmore) but also bottlings from very rare distilleries such as Ben Wyvis, Glen Flagler and Killyloch, and of course the many versions distilled in the Lomond stills of Miltonduff (Mosstowie), Glen Keith (Craigduff, Glenisla) and Glenburgie (Glencraig). Finally, in 2002, Andrew Symington bought the Edradour distillery in Pitlochry, in the Highlands of Scotland. Signatory Vintage was moved to the site, along with its warehouses, which face the distillery. A limited edition of 486 bottles.