Port Ellen – World’s Best Single Malt

At the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, a little known single-malt scotch from a now closed distillery took home top honors.

29-year old Port Ellen cask strength whiskey.

Islay, the fifth largest Scottish island, was home to the Port Ellen distillery from 1825 until it’s closing in 1984. The storage warehouse for the spirits still remains and each year the owner releases a portion of the dwindling supply. This past year’s release numbered at 6,600 bottles, but exactly how many barrels still reside in the warehouse is a closely guarded secret.

Collectors and connoisseurs the world over continue to purchase these bottles upon release awaiting that sad day when the cache of scotch is no more.

The whiskey is characterized as having notes of spice and earth or “peat” as the Scottish would refer to it. (Imagine the landscape of the Scottish shoreline.) If you are fan of the single-malts, we say it’s well worth your while to track down a bottle to enjoy. Just be prepared to pay - current suggested retail price is around $250/bottle, with some vendors charging substantially more.

Happy tasting, and remember: “Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead”. –Scottish Proverb