Port Ellen 1982 33 Year Old cask 11120 - XOP (70cl, 55.6%)
Bottle No 50 of only 198 filled.
A 1982 vintage whisky from cult closed distillery Port Ellen. Distilled in the October the year before the distillery closed its doors. Xtra Old Particular by Douglas Laing is the premium version of the brand, and is reserved for casks the company considers the Laing "family jewels."
A single cask bottling of rare Port Ellen single malt Scotch whisky, distilled in 1982, a year before the distillery shut its doors for the final time, and matured in a refill hogshead for 33 years before being bottled in August 2016 for the Xtra Old Particular range. 198 bottles were produced. Bottled in honour of La Maison du Whisky's 60th Anniversary.
Port Ellen is the lost jewel in the Islay crown, closed down by DCL (now Diageo) in 1983 due to an oversupply of peated whisky for blending and a perceived lack of interest in it as a single malt. It has developed a legendary status in the years since. A very rare 12 year old bottled for attendees of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1980 is believed to have been the only distillery bottling produced in its years of operation. Diageo have bottled more since, but it is the independent companies that have given the whisky world the best chance to sample this sought after single malt.
Douglas Laing & Co was established in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing, affectionately known as “FDL.” The company started out as a blending business, but over time their focus shifted towards independently bottlings single malts. Fred died in 1982, leaving the business to his two sons, Stewart and Fred Jr, who eventually carved it up in 2013, with Stewart leaving to establish Hunter Laing. Fred Jr and his daughter Cara now run Douglas Laing, which continues to bottle single malt and has also revived its blending business. Additionally, the company has recently moved into distilling as well, announcing plans to construct the new Clutha distillery in Glasgow, and taking over Strathearn in Perthshire in 2019.
Old Particular is Douglas Laing's flagship label, and was launched in 2013 after their Old Malt Cask series became part of the portfolio of the newly established Hunter Laing. Xtra Old Particular is the premium version of the brand, placed at the pinnacle of its Exceptional Single Casks range and is reserved for casks the company considers the Laing "family jewels.”