Port Ellen 1979 / 2014 Gordon & Macphail R0/14/01 46% vs Port Ellen 35 yo 1978 / 2004 Douglas Laing for Alambic Classique DL655 61.1% vs Port Ellen 35 yo 1982 / 2018 Signatory 30th Anniversary #2040 55.1%
Port Ellen 1979 / 2014 Gordon & Macphail R0/14/01 46%
Noses exactly as expected. These later Port Ellens were rather consistent and most rather good. Suede leather stained by the herbaceous green sap of broken undergrowth. A forest fire upwind. Wet coal and hot tar on new rubber boots. In fact quite rubbery. Uncleaned fishing nets strung up and forgotten in the afternoon sun. Sea mud drying on piers. A pungent Myrtle, muscle rub and stale ash mixed with seawater. All that rounded down into a smooth and edgeless sphere that’s slickly oily and goes down all too well. 90 pts
Port Ellen 35 yo 1978 / 2004 Douglas Laing for Alambic Classique advanced sample DL655 61.1%
This one is about direct application of power, and less about lush olfactory landscapes. Powerful tar and leather, and bracing amounts of medicinal ointments like tiger balm and eucalyptus. A shot of white smoke infused salt concentrate. Great herbaceous pungence that’s keenly felt on the tongue. Mustard, menthol, pepper and gentian in abundance. And tentacles of these rubbery and petrol aspects reach out to exert a vice grip on the tongue. Brilliant. 92 pts
Port Ellen 35 yo 1982 / 2018 Signatory 30th Anniversary #2040 55.1%
I did not expect this. This is exceptional! Crystal clarity and concise power. River beds of burning coal, liquefied salt, burning plastic and a buffet of phenolic petrochemicals. Rather linear but in the way train tracks bring a freight train. Molten tar, soot laden smoke, flaming pillars of sea water, a battalion worth of bandages and iodine pads. I would say chiselled and far narrower compared to other 80s Port Ellen but this one lands an emphatic hammer blow. 93 pts
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