Here's a quick and dirty review of Port Ellen I certainly found at an 'old' price (€172) in a wine shop here in Denmark. Yes, €172 may seem a lot for a Provenance bottling, but then stuff like this usually goes for around €250 or more here...
Port Ellen 1983 23yo winter 83/winter 06 46%, refill butt#3229, Douglas McGibbon Provenance
Straw coloured
Nose:
Soot, salt camp fire, Fisherman's Friend, sweetness, tar and light peat, seaweed, boiled fruits and some 'old cask effect'.
Taste:
Candied fruits, sweet malt and then peat and a nip of oak. Fresh scallops and sandy beaches also comes to mind, hot frying pan and warm salad? Oak vanilla and warm camp fire ash...
A good Port Ellen at 23yo - most ones we see now are hitting the 30yo mark, so a nice change in the opposite direction and this one certainly shows lots more than many of the older Port Ellens I've had earlier. (not reviewed on this blog).
89/100!
Showing posts with label Provenance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Provenance. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
PORT ELLEN 1983 - DOUGLAS MCGIBBON PROVENANCE - PART VIII
Another distillery that does not need any introduction, is the closed Port Ellen Distillery.
Not counting its founding and early production years, the distillery was shut down after a relatively short lifespan from 1967-1983... and with only an annual output of about 800.000 liters of spirit, bottles have now become rare and expensive. After Port Ellen Distillery closed, production was increased at another Diageo (back then UDV)distillery instead namely Caol Ila, making it biggest distillery on Islay for many years now.
Last year saw another expansion at Caol Ila with new the installation of 2 new washbacks, making it possible for the distillery to up the output to a massive 6.400.000 liters of spirit annually.
There's much debate on how much Port Ellen that are actually left in Scotland, both with the owners Diageo and with the independent bottlers, of which Douglas Laing here in reputed to have some stock left...and its a bottle from this stock that goes in the review below:
Port Ellen 1983 27yo 46%, refill sherry butt#DMG6101, Douglas McGibbon Provenance
Bright gold coloured
Nose:
Sweet fruits, cut mango, melon, an ashy peat along with quite some salt.
Taste:
Fruits and peat are the dominant players here. then quite some coastal notes incl the before mentioned salt, but also hint of seaweed and a wet sand note (mineral note?)
The thing about Port Ellen is, that it can be both very mediocre and downright fantastic whisky. This is very enjoyable, but far from the best Port Ellen I've ever tried....and at the price they're charging for Port Ellen these days, I'd rather pay less that half and get a bottle of old Caol Ila, which -in my opinion- has much of the same characteristics as a Port Ellen.
85/100!
This post also concludes the 8-part series on indie bottler Douglas Laing.
Hope you've enjoyed the reviews.
Not counting its founding and early production years, the distillery was shut down after a relatively short lifespan from 1967-1983... and with only an annual output of about 800.000 liters of spirit, bottles have now become rare and expensive. After Port Ellen Distillery closed, production was increased at another Diageo (back then UDV)distillery instead namely Caol Ila, making it biggest distillery on Islay for many years now.
Last year saw another expansion at Caol Ila with new the installation of 2 new washbacks, making it possible for the distillery to up the output to a massive 6.400.000 liters of spirit annually.
There's much debate on how much Port Ellen that are actually left in Scotland, both with the owners Diageo and with the independent bottlers, of which Douglas Laing here in reputed to have some stock left...and its a bottle from this stock that goes in the review below:
Port Ellen 1983 27yo 46%, refill sherry butt#DMG6101, Douglas McGibbon Provenance
Bright gold coloured
Nose:
Sweet fruits, cut mango, melon, an ashy peat along with quite some salt.
Taste:
Fruits and peat are the dominant players here. then quite some coastal notes incl the before mentioned salt, but also hint of seaweed and a wet sand note (mineral note?)
The thing about Port Ellen is, that it can be both very mediocre and downright fantastic whisky. This is very enjoyable, but far from the best Port Ellen I've ever tried....and at the price they're charging for Port Ellen these days, I'd rather pay less that half and get a bottle of old Caol Ila, which -in my opinion- has much of the same characteristics as a Port Ellen.
85/100!
This post also concludes the 8-part series on indie bottler Douglas Laing.
Hope you've enjoyed the reviews.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
LAPHROAIG 2001 - DOUGLAS MCGIBBON PROVENANCE - PART VII
This distillery on the south coast of Islay needs no introduction, so lets go right at it:
Laphroaig 2001 8yo 46%, from 2 x refill hogsheads 5095+5096, Douglas McGibbon Provenance
Pale straw in colour
Nose:
Gristy, more smoke than peat, very sweet, hints of Jamaica's favorit 'herb' (and not talking coffee here), a little banana and vanillapods
Taste:
The lightest of arrivals for a Laphroaig, bordering on thin. The smoke and sweetness is very much in the foreground on this one. The gristyness from the nose on this one also carries through on the palate. The middle palate is very weak and only the smoke lingers on a short while.
Far from the most impressive of Laphroaigs, but still an enjoyable session dram.To be honest, I'd personally spend a little more money and get the Distillery 10yo Cask Strength.
82/100!
Laphroaig 2001 8yo 46%, from 2 x refill hogsheads 5095+5096, Douglas McGibbon Provenance
Pale straw in colour
Nose:
Gristy, more smoke than peat, very sweet, hints of Jamaica's favorit 'herb' (and not talking coffee here), a little banana and vanillapods
Taste:
The lightest of arrivals for a Laphroaig, bordering on thin. The smoke and sweetness is very much in the foreground on this one. The gristyness from the nose on this one also carries through on the palate. The middle palate is very weak and only the smoke lingers on a short while.
Far from the most impressive of Laphroaigs, but still an enjoyable session dram.To be honest, I'd personally spend a little more money and get the Distillery 10yo Cask Strength.
82/100!
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
GLENTAUCHERS 2000 - DOUGLAS MCGIBBON PROVENANCE - PART II
One of the other Douglas Laing-series this one (if you didnt read my first post).
Glentauchers 2000 8yo 46%, sherry butt#4595, Douglas McGibbon Provenance
Nose:
Sweet apples, very light coat of sherry, malty (cereal) notes and toffee
Taste:
Vanilla and more dominant sherry influence than expected.
Very malty and fruity and the thing feels alot more mature than an 8yo.
Good whisky from a 'small' relatively unknown distillery owned by Drinks-Giant Pernod Richard!
84/100!
Glentauchers 2000 8yo 46%, sherry butt#4595, Douglas McGibbon Provenance
Nose:
Sweet apples, very light coat of sherry, malty (cereal) notes and toffee
Taste:
Vanilla and more dominant sherry influence than expected.
Very malty and fruity and the thing feels alot more mature than an 8yo.
Good whisky from a 'small' relatively unknown distillery owned by Drinks-Giant Pernod Richard!
84/100!
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