Port Ellen are celebrating their 200th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the much-loved Islay distillery are offering up a range of initiatives, experiences, and a special one off whisky.
The distillery as founded in 1825 and quickly grew to become one of the island’s largest producers. Despite being an important component for a number of blends, Port Ellen’s history was marked by a cycle of closures and reopening, before finally closing its doors in 1983.
However, in the years after falling silent Port Ellen’s reputation only grew stronger. Rather than becoming another name destined to fall into whisky obscurity, Port Ellen’s popularity continued to rise as remaining stocks dwindled.
Thus it was no surprise when Diageo announced in 2017 that they would revive Port Ellen, alongside Brora - another long closed distillery. Following a £185 million restoration project, Port Ellen reopened its doors and fired up its stills once again in March 2024, bringing an end to four decades of closure.
Now the distillery has entered its 200th year and the team at Port Ellen have announced a number of initiatives to mark the occasion. Headlining these plans is the ambitious Atlas of Smoke project: a multi-faceted endeavour that aims to explore the nuances of smoke in Scotch whisky.
At the heart of the Atlas of Smoke plan is the distillery’s unique Ten Part Spirit Safe. As opposed to the traditional spirit safe that allow for three cuts during the spirit run, Port Ellen’s safe - as the name suggests - can offer ten different cut points. In theory, this allows for an unprecedented degree exploration of a spirit’s character and flavour.
Aimée Morrison, master blender of Port Ellen Distillery, explains: “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.”
Visitors to the distillery will be able to taste the initial results of these experiments in the near future. Starting during Feis Ile 2025, Port Ellen will offer a limited number of labour-led visitor experiences, which will include the findings from the Atlas of Smoke project alongside samples from historic Port Ellen releases.
A second element of the Atlas of Smoke scheme will be a number of artistic commissions aiming to illustrate the project’s discoveries. Chief among these will be an installation by artist and designer Ini Archibong that will be revealed towards the end of the year.
Archibong has previously collaborated with Port Ellen on a piece called ‘Dram and the Water’, which was auctioned at Sotheby’s alongside a cask of 1979 vintage Port Ellen for US$1 million in 2022.
Finally, Diageo have announced that they will contribute a unique expression from Port Ellen for the Distillers One of One Auction in 2025. No information on the whisky has been revealed yet beyond the fact that is to be presented in a one of a kind sculpture, but given the calibre of whiskies in previous editions of this auction, it’s bound to be something special.
It’s somewhat refreshing to find that, as the distillery looks back and honours its history, they are continuing to look forward too. The inherent experimentation involved in the Atlas of Smoke project is certainly intriguing.
Sure, it might only be really appealing to the geekiest of whisky geeks (the list of people fascinated by the minutiae of distillation cut off points is likely to be very small), but Diageo could easily have gone the easier route and produce any old swill then call it the same legendary liquid from Port Ellen.
Similarly, all the extra stuff with art installations is probably of little interest to most whisky fans. But it’s their birthday and they can do what they want we suppose! At the end of the day, we’d argue that the Art of Smoke is ultimately an interesting and commendable approach to whisky making.
Whether or not they produce liquid that lives up to that intrigue, or even if it’s simply any good, of course remains to be seen. How will it fare next to the old liquid, and will it hold the distillery in good stead for the future? Will the next two hundred years of Port Ellen be as turbulent as the last?
Either way, we can’t help but feel like they’ve started their latest chapter in a positive manner.
