31/05/2020 Port Ellen day

There is no official Port Ellen day, but we have Port Ellen, so might as well.

Port Ellen 37yo 1978/2016 (55.2%, OB Annual Release, 2940b): leftover from the Special Release tasting in 2017. How time flies! Nose: the most interesting part of this Fèis Ìle at home is to witness, once again, that peat is not at all a one-size-fits-all. It takes many varied guises. Case in point: this Port Ellen focuses on seashells, smoked mussels, smoked anchovies and mackerel, as well as the diesel for the trawler that caught the fish. Not quite an oil slick, yet it certainly has a petrolic note to it. Smoked sardines, rollmops, kippers, served with fresh strawberries. Then, it has meringue, powdered sugar and daffodil broth, which I did not see coming. Pineapple drops, timid crystallised kiwi slices, orange-flavoured boiled sweets, then back to the coast, with fishing nets, smoked crab shells, smoked halibut and squeezed lime from a Ritter Citro squeezer. The longer it sits in the glass, the fruitier the nose becomes, with more and more citrus zest. The last things to caress the nostrils  are a huge waft of kerosene and a puff of smoke (from a mix of diesel and wood combustion). Mouth: big, peppery and smoky, the mouth also has some fruit: charred peach and nectarine slices, lime and pomelo zest, smoked bergamot. The kipper-y notes are now more distant and subtle, with smoked-halibut fillets, smoked oysters, smoked jellied eels and smoked-cranberry jam. On the other hand, the palate sees more charred wood too, with burnt cassia-bark sticks, exotic smoke and smoked tea. Exhaust fumes, spent fireworks, smoky fruit infusions, smoky chamomile, if such a thing exists. The third sip brings its lot of sweetness (tangerine segments) and bitterness (tangerine pith). Finish: all the above is there; the fruit, the toasted wood, the petrol, the seafood, the infusions. Smoked pineapple chunks, smoked grapefruit, lime zest and kippers, a jerry can of kerosene, smoked red-fruit tea and caramelised jams (peach rather than cranberry, this time). Cocoa powder, dark-chocolate butter, sticky toffee pudding and orange segments all deliver too. The death has a mildly rubbery lick that tat displays a soft bitterness, without taking away the fact that this is a terrific drop, much fruitier and more complex than I remembered it. 9/10

This is a Ritter Citro squeezer. You're welcome.

It is a good exercise, this virtual festival. It reminds me of one of the reasons I do not attend Fèis Ìle: it is long, intense and dangerous: it is one thing to try a couple of drams a day alone and at my pace; it is another one altogether to go for seven consecutive days of heavy dramming, with temptation at every corner. It represents a lot of work and a lot of whisky. And that is right off the Campbeltown festival, so it really is eleven consecutive days. Hard.