Port Ellen Tasting - October 4th - 7 PM

[Spirit of Islay]

McGibbons Provenance 1981 18yo 43%
Forgot i had this one and going off the colour it's from Sherry Casks.....
N: Not a bad nose , no sherry nasties , spices , dried fruits , Christmas cake , a whiff of peat smoke.....
P: Very smooth on the palate , not overly sherried , again a touch of peat / smoke in amongst all the stuff associated with sherry .
F:Nice medium sherry finish .
C:Seeing i bought this in 2000 / 2001 when i was going through my i don't like sherried whisky phase i can see why i put it away , a very nice easy drinking whisky .

[Ganga]

Sounds like you found at least one decent PE G.

[TreacleSponge]

Starting with a little taste of a sample of Dewar Rattray 24yo from TheShrink - thanks "Little" because I drank most of it weeks ago when he sent it. Ah well, it's got to be finished some time

[lohssanami]

Ok...I'm just finishing lunch, and I just need to clean the palate before I run through my lineup.

OMC 25yo 1979 2005 50% abv, (courtesy Ryan)
Signatory Vintage 22yo 1979 2002 43% abv, Refill Sherry, Cask 5537 (courtesy Ryan)
McGibbons Provenance 19yo Spring 1982 - Spring 2001 43% (courtesy C57)
Provenance 23yo - April 1982-May 2006 - 46% (courtesy Mikey)

Perhaps I'll start with the Sig, and work my way up in ABV.

[Willie JJ]

Evening all. Things are going along at a gallop I see. I'll just grab the samples and be right with you.

[Ganga]

PE: OMC, 1979, 25yo, 50%
Glass: large brandy
Nose: Strangely much more muted in this glass. Really shows the lemons and some malt. Ah, the sea air has become apparent here.
Palate: It's oily, malty with some citrus (oranges mixed with lemons?) notes in there. I will say that there is a little bit of oak char now in this sample.
Finish: Similar to the Ardbeg Noser

This is a whisky I would enjoy one large dram of in and evening. I noticing a certain astringency now and I think this would build and make it less enjoyable.

[Spirit of Islay]

Signatory Vintage 1979 22yo Cask 5143 43%

N:Very Citric ( Lemon ) , touch iodine .
P: Very fudgy ! green fruits.....Hang on am i tasting a Bruichladdich ?
F:longish citric .
C:Really Weird PE , kind of lowlanderish/Bruichladdichish . Strange.....

[Dram fine idea]

PE 21yo 46% DL Provenance Autumn 1982 to Summer 2004 (Thanks Leorin/Kevin)

Nose Sherry, cough medicine (which I like so I'm not complaining), whiff of struck matches

Taste Gentle, smooth, cough medicine, peat, iodine, oranges, slightly metallic

Finish More of the same

Comment A very good, straightforward PE which I like.

[TreacleSponge]

Port Ellen 24yo: Dewar Rattray Cask Collection, sherry cask 1982 58.2%

Nose: Creosoted wood at a sea harbour, tealeaves, toffee sweetness, raisin chocolate, plums, cinnamon.
Palate: Immediately that sweet toffee, followed by leather and then the peat comes through.
Finish: Looooong. Waves of sweetness and seaside.

This has a strong colour, presumably from the sherry cask which has added lovely balanced sweetness without going off on an orange tangent that sherry sometimes does. I love the nose on this.

[mikeymad]

Cheers Willie.....

looking forward to your notes....

[Ganga]

PE: Signatory, 1979, 22, 43%, Butt 5537
Glass: Ardbeg Noser
Nose: Barley, peat mixed in creosote, strong lemons
Palate: An oily dark chocolate, spritz of lemon
Finish: although long it is very delicate, chocolate resolves into more of a creosote.

[Spirit of Islay]

OMC 25yo Mar 76 (b.Apr 01) 50%

N:That off putting smell is there , fudge (again!) , lemon drizzle cake (Huh!) slight iodine . .
P:Much better on the palate , the nicest iodine i've had yet .
F: long , citric and slight peat.
C: Probably the best PE of the night so far , toss up between this and the Provenance , still an average drinking malt though.

[mikeymad]

I was just thinking ....

This will probably be one of the oldest tasting that we will have.

As far as average age of the whisky being tried.... and maybe the total age of the whisky being tried....

A lot in the 20s.

Cheers,

[Dram fine idea]

PE 24/25yo 46% Berry Brothers 1982 2007 #2469 (Thanks to Ras)
Glencairn glass.

Nose Germolene, then sweet fudge appears

Taste Lovely sweetness comes through the middle with the iodine/germolene down the side. Bubbles nicely on the tongue with the strength.

Finish More of the same. Medium length finish with a touch of smoke, leather and salt.

Comment My favourite so far this evening. Akin to top notch Caol Ila. Lovely dram.

[Ganga]

Sorry had to go make lunch/dinner for the boys. Need to cleanse the palate before getting back.

[Spirit of Islay]

Signatory Vintage 1976 21yo Cask 4754 57.9%

N: This is much better , is that Chocolate ? fresh apples , ozone .
P: Wow , pepper ! Iodine , slightly spicy , fills the mouth !
F: Lovely long peppery finish .
C: This has been top of my PE pops for a long time , definitely in my top 3 , now if only all PE's were like this.....

[lohssanami]

McGibbons Provenance 19yo Spring 82 - Spring 01 43%

Nose: Seaweed and mint, charred pinecones.

Taste: More mint with a little smoke, and I almost taste some lime.

Finish: Medium finish with a pine needle stickiness.

It is vastly different from the only other PE I've had, the 7th Annual Release. An interesting dram nonetheless.

[Spirit of Islay]

I was just thinking ....

This will probably be one of the oldest tasting that we will have......

As far as average age of the whisky being tried.... and maybe the total age of the whisky being tried....

A lot in the 20s.

Cheers,

I can do that with the Ardbeg one Mikey......

[Ganga]

PE: Signatory, 1979, 22, 43%, Butt 5537
Glass: Ardbeg Noser
Nose: peat mixed in creosote, lemony grist, a slight overtone of mint
Palate: Creosote and dark chocolate, harvested/husked barley, small bit of citrus
Finish: although long it is very delicate, melted Dove chocolate.

[mikeymad]

I can do that with the Ardbeg one Mikey......

That I have no doubt Gordon.... and looking forward to it.

But it will be balanced with everything from a 4-10yo's from everyone else..

Cheers,

[Ganga]

I was just thinking ....

This will probably be one of the oldest tasting that we will have......

As far as average age of the whisky being tried.... and maybe the total age of the whisky being tried....

A lot in the 20s.

Cheers,

I can do that with the Ardbeg one Mikey......

G, you're going to wear yourself out making up for everyone's Tens.

[badgerbrown]

I only have the one open at the moment, so here goes...

Port Ellen 1979 3rd release. Bottled 2003. 57.3%

Nose High peat levels with pleanty of cereal character. Engine oil/carbolic phenols. Big sea-air freshness. As it opens heather honey, red fruits/berries, almond nuttiness and swirling orange oils on top.
With water - Aromatherapy essential oils with white pepper.

Taste Oranges, peat, alcohol, white pepper, quite sweet.
With water - More pepper and oranges and peat. Sea-air, then goes to a bitter dark chocolate.

Finish Gentle oak shows up. Plump sultana and cocoa. Then seaweed, cashews and orange/lemon juice.Delicate peat smoke curls.
With water - Orange zest and a little pith and tumbling threads of honey. Slight figginess, then nutiness comes through but under a rolling peaty tide.

Overall, an exercise in swirling oily subtlety; hues rather than explicit notes. I'd love an aromatherapy massage if it smelt like this!

[Leorin]

Port Ellen 22 y.o. Jack Wiebers Gentle Noses 1982/2005 62,2%
N:cherry jam, liquorice, peatsmoke, antiseptic
P:sweet, black tea, good suphur, iodine, very compact
F:sherry, tea, peat, very long
C: This one is amazing. If you like your malt peated and sherried, you have to find this one
(my sample of this is empty now )

[jmrl]

Hello Everybodybloodypeeps,

Didn't think I could be in on this one but last minute plans saw Mrs Jolly Toper going out for the night but left me with irresistable curry, cheesecake and red wine so my palate is exhausted. However much gratitude to Willy (and so Gordon) for 10yo. A bit of a quest of mine is to try young expressions of closed distilleries.

Tried it last night but can't find the men's urinals pong (ladies urinals would be too much altogether) I got then. As I won't be able to taste it I'll just nose for the next 10 mins. Sea air and quite a bit water too.

[Ganga]

Sig 1979 22, 43% with some water.

Nose: the water brings out more of the citrus and barley and diminishes the other aspects.
Palate: I guess the oily peat notes moved from the nose to the palate. This is the inverse of the nose with the citrus and barley much muted.
Finish: less delicate now, chocolatey

[Willie JJ]

Signatory Scottish Wildlife Port Ellen 10yo 43%

Thanks for this one Gordon. I think it really adds an extra dimension to this tasting.

N: I've been sniffing this in the bottle for a couple of weeks now and findig an acrid unpleasant note. In the Glencairn that note seems to have tempered somewhat. There's still something of the farmyard about it but the cereal has come to the fore. An air of draff and cooked veg, with a hint of orange and that lingering pee in the background. The peat is there, but it is a little subdued.
P: Much more peat influence here. Very malty and almost delicious with barley sugar all over it. But sadly there is just that hint of pee about it again making the orange a bit gruesome.
F: Pretty short and not offering anything terribly new.

I don't really know what to make of this. This could be a really nice dram, but the stream of urine that runs through it is pretty off-putting. Fascinating but flawed. I'd definitely rather have an 8yo Lagavulin than a 10yo PE on the slender experience I have of both.

[Ras Mazunga]

Hello everyone!
Although I have a blocked nose and a sore throat I'm going to this anyway. Last night I had some PE3 and it tasted great.
Thank you all for swapping samples.
I'll start with Gordons sample because it is the youngest:
Signatory Scottish Wildlife 43% 10yo
n: malt with some mashed potatoes, fresh fuits maybe peaches. lightly peated.
t: peat, pear and some wood, nice and fresh
f: fresh of lemon, drying in the end

[Spirit of Islay]

Signatory Vintage 1978 23yo Cask 5268 59%

N:Very sherry nose at first , spices , dried fruit , apples , ozone , slight iodine , smoke .
P:again a touch peppery , really nice mouthfeel , coats the tongue beautifully , a nice sweetness .
F: Long , Sweet , slightly Peppery.
C: Another of my top 3 PE's (unfortunately i don't have my No.1 open , the TWS PE from 1978) , Again if only......

[Spirit of Islay]

Hi Willie ,
Glad it's not just me !

[TreacleSponge]

Bladnoch Forum Port Ellen 25yo butt#2037 Dec 2007 56.2%

Nose: Mint, vanilla fudge, seashells, ashy peat
Palate: Dusty, then fresh green twigs, sweet liquorice root, lots of heat before adding any water
Finish: Spicy, ginger powder then the smoke dominates.

Big and bold. Quite hot, too peppery for me without water, but I'm enjoying it a lot now it's mellowed after a little while.

[Jimmy321]

Hi all.

Just got in, better late than never!

I'm going to go do the tasting in order of the lowest alc vol%.

McGibbons Provence 19yo 1982-2001 43%

N. Sea air then some sweet malt.

T. Starts quite slowly, distant peat - starts to get hot then some white wine/citrus.

F. Citrus winey fading into slight oak & smoke.

[Ganga]

Just wiped out my glasses. I think they smell better than they did with the whisky in them. The barley is much more prominent.

[Spirit of Islay]

PEAR1 1979 22yo 56.2%

N: Tar , pepper , again apples and a touch Lemon .
P: Peppery , Apple and Custard , Creme brulee .
F: Long , slightly peppery .
C: Must say this is better than what i remembered , still not as good as the Sigs though.

[lohssanami]

22 yr 1979 Signatory Vintage Refill Sherry Butt Cask # 5537

Nose: Lemon with some peat and a hint of cinnamon, almost like those flavored toothpicks, just not as strong. On nosing just before tasting, I get light minty tones.

Taste: Touch of pepper, some sweet peat, and the lemon is fading.

Finish: Medium finish here, and it seems to have some sweet pepper on the tongue for a bit.

[Ganga]

PE: AR #7, 1979, 28 yo, 53.8%
Glass: Ardbeg Noser
Nose: Vanilla custard topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon, lemon peals mixed with crushed barley, just a hint of smoking peat
Palate: Cooking brownies, citric mixed dough, some cracked black pepper
Finish: Long, hot and oily