Port Ellen is the holy grail when it comes to Peated whiskies, for some whisky lovers, and as you know prices are on the rise, with the distillery closed and bottles become scarcer and scarcer, the whisky is gaining popularity, mostly for being very ‘collectible’ . The 2nd release was bottled in 2002, making it a 24 year old. Prices now are quite steep, as you can see here.
Port Ellen 1978 24 Year Old 2nd Release , 59.35% abv , £1,500 (TWE) 
Nose: Quite grassy , with hints of basil and eucalyptus some farmy notes ( yea stables, manure ) , citrus and also a nice fruity note mostly of pear , and a golden syrup /honeycomb note too.
Palate: the palate is fiercer with the high abv playing a nice part… Hot pepper up front, then getting bitter and peaty with the farmy notes and some bitter espresso taking the lead. There’s a nice waxy note in there too as well as ripe orange , and a earthy note as well.
Finish : Long… with bitter earthy peat , espresso and a creamy cereal note too. Wax.
A rather excellent whisky, with a good nose, and a much better palate for sure, with more complexity, and depth. I guess we’re not going to buy this anytime soon, but if you have a few 1000’s quid to spare, there are other whiskies that you might want to consider as well, I guess.. At any rate I am thankful for the opportunity of getting to try this and some others (coming soon) from PE. Always feels a bit more special when the distillery is gone, isn’t it?
Score: 90/100
Available at bestofwhiskies.com , € 1,570