14/03/2022 Port Ellen

Port Ellen 18yo d.1976 (46%, Direct Wines Ltd. First Cask, C#4778): nose: delicate and refined peat from the get-go. Here are ashes, smoked oysters, vintage lemon squeezers (Ritter Citro -- it took me forever to remember where I used that reference, and it turns out it was for another Port Ellen), wet sand and beach shingles. It has a gently petrolic aspect too, with watered-down diesel, sand, thick with hydrocarbons, and even petrol itself, perhaps. After a few minutes, a distinct fruitiness grows, and raspberries and dried strawberry slices leap out of the glass, topped with a dollop of clotted cream, no less! Even further on, a delicate note of softwood joins the party, hazel or bramble, I am not sure. Tilting the glass unveils dusty soot. The second nose increases the fruity sweetness and throws strawberry bubble gum into the mix, as well as candied banana slices. Mouth: salty and a half on the palate, it feels pretty bold at 46%, and has red-hot metal, oyster shells, heated on the campfire (directly in the flames, in fact), diesel (lots of it) and the berries from the nose. Who would have thought to associate petrol, seawater and raspberries? A genius, that is who! It works a treat. The oily, sweet, salty and acidic facets all sing in unison, rather than compete with one another, and the result is surprisingly successful. Ground seashells, still salty from all the sea water, strawberry dunked in a jerrycan of petrol, perhaps even a touch of flint. Subsequent sips stay pretty hot, with lots of cracked black pepper and sand from the oven (why anyone would put sand in an oven is a good question! Unless they are making glass, of course). Finish: just as it did when we first had this, it falls somewhat short here, in that the finish seems weak-ish, compared to the heat of the palate. It is not, of course, and it sticks to the mouth for a long time, with petrol and burnt hazel. It is merely less intense or powerful than the nose and palate had one anticipate. As such, it is probably most adequate early on in a line-up. It retains the tarry sands and is muddier here than before, in a peat-bog sort of way. It has a soft burnt side, more heated wood (hazel again) than burnt peat or char, mind. Torched strawberries appear on the second sip, which is pretty original. Excellent dram. 8/10

For educational purposes, this is a Ritter Citro