Port Ellen celebrates 200th anniversary
A year after reopening, Diageo-owned Islay distillery Port Ellen has announced a series of initiatives to mark its 200th anniversary.
Alexander Kerr MacKay founded Port Ellen Distillery on Islay’s south coast in 1825. It later grew into a prominent distillery producing whiskies for blends under the leadership of John Ramsay.
With a colourful history marked by long periods of silence and reopening, the original Port Ellen ceased production in 1983. It was one of many distilleries that closed in the 1980s.
After a 40-year silence, the rebuilt Port Ellen Distillery opened its doors on 19 March 2024.
To mark the 200th anniversary of its founding, the distillery has announced a series of initiatives, including new tasting experiences and upcoming releases of single malt Scotch whisky.
The distillery has also announced new whisky trials, titled ‘Atlas of Smoke’, which aim to explore the nuances of smoke in Scotch whisky. Throughout the year, Port Ellen will share the project’s latest discoveries, which will be illustrated through contemporary artistic commissions, including works by Ini Archibong.
Archibong will create a new installation inspired by Port Ellen’s story and his interpretation of the nuances of smoke. This will be unveiled at the end of the celebratory year.
He previously created a piece for the brand titled ‘Dram and the Water’, which accompanied a cask of Port Ellen 1979. Sotheby’s auctioned this piece and the cask in 2022 for more than US$1,000,000.
Diageo will donate a unique Port Ellen whisky release, presented in a sculpture, to The Distillers One of One charity auction in October 2025. More details will be revealed soon.
Atlas of Smoke
The Atlas of Smoke project will enable the team to delve into the intricacies of every aspect of the process that influences the flavour of smoke. This includes examining factors such as peat levels and distillation cut points.
The Ten Part Spirit Safe was unveiled at the distillery’s reopening in March 2024. Unlike standard distillery spirit safes, which typically allow for three cuts during the spirit run – the head, the heart, and the tails – the Port Ellen Ten Part Spirit Safe can draw multiple cuts from the heart of the run. The brand claims this opens the door to previously unexplored flavours and characteristics.
Port Ellen’s signature smoky spirit is distilled in the site’s Phoenix stills. Meanwhile, the Experimental stills will work to establish a pipeline for the distillery’s whisky-making research.
Aimée Morrison, master blender of Port Ellen Distillery, said: “It is a great honour to help take Port Ellen into its third century of whisky making. Through the collaboration of Port Ellen’s team, technical experts, and whisky specialists, experimental hypotheses have been created that examine different aspects of flavour within the world of smoke as we currently understand it.
“Smoke as a signature of Port Ellen is an aroma that encompasses a broad spectrum of flavours, including wood smoke, medicinal essence, salinity, and embers from a fire. Through experimentation, we hope to learn more about the intricacies of Port Ellen’s quintessential character.
“We look forward to sharing elements of the results of these investigations with guests at the distillery, from the Pagoda room, where we will house a liquid library of our findings.”
Distillery experiences
During this year’s Fèis Ìle festival in late May, Port Ellen will offer a limited number of places for flavour-led distillery experiences.
Visitors can also experience the journey of experimentation first hand and taste the initial results of the Atlas of Smoke project.
The experience will also offer guests historic samples of Port Ellen releases, as well as explore new collaborations.
Tickets for Port Ellen’s experiences are available at the distillery’s website. Prices range from £40 (US$53) to £600 (US$796).
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