Kilchoman 13 yo 2007/2020 (55.5%, OB private cask for Max & Julia, cask #69, bourbon barrel, 215 bottles)
I was planning to wait until a sparring Kilchoman arrived, but, in all honesty, I can't be bothered. I'm just too curious to try a properly mature, teenage Kilchoman. Plus, I'm sure we could make some tenuous argument about doing this in a session with Port Ellen and it being the new alongside the old. Quite frankly though, I'm sure we don't need such excuses. Colour: bright straw. Nose: a dusty smokiness at first, bailed straw, hay, sunflower seeds, smoked olive oil and this rather firm and punchy note of pumpkinseed oil. Indeed, the overall impression is one of rather an oily and full bodied dram. Although, the peat itself isn't super intense. More of these dusty phenolics, and things like natural tar, creosote and roof pitch. With water: becomes softer and more fragrant with kelp, sandalwood, preserved lemon, bergamot and other hints of smoked tea and dried herbs. Mouth: big, sharp, chiselled, crystalline and pure peat. Rather ashy, tarry, salty with notes of iodine, wet wool, lemon juice and pickling brine. Feels more coastal that some other Kilchomans and in that sense more traditionally modern Islay in overall profile. Superbly clean, zippy fresh, peaty and coastal. With water: beach sand, seawater, ink, mixed dried herbs, lemon rind, smoked sea salt and dried seaweed. Finish: long, sandy, very salty, fresh sea air, citric, briny and with a crisp, slightly meaty peat smoke. Comments: I tend to find Kilchomans a notch more farmyard in style, however this one was pure coastal Islay. Not that I will complain about that, it's pretty flawless stuff and shows really well at this age.
SGP: 467 - 90 points.

Port Ellen 10 yo 'Scottish Wildlife' (43%, Signatory Vintage, bottled 1993, mini)
I believe Serge has proclaimed this before to be his favourite Port Ellen. Now, full disclosure, this sample is a miniature of this whisky. The level is good but after this length of time there may be some divergence between full size bottles and minis. Colour: white wine. Nose: it's funny how even at 10yo it still smells close to some of the 20-30yo examples. The PE DNA is alive and vigorous in this humble wee 10yo. I just love this uber fresh and very citric style of peat. Clay, ointments, medical embrocations, beach pebbles, mineral oils, seashore 'stuff', wood ashes and chalk. Fresh, lively and yet with a wonderful sense of 'completeness' and balance. Mouth: feels bigger than 43% which is always a neat trick that great whiskies often pull off. Rather crisp and salty, but this is perfectly balanced by waxy lemon peel, smoked olive oil, breads, a wee touch of rubber welly boot and pure peaty kiln air. You could just quaff inches of a bottle without really noticing I fear. Finish: long, lemony, chalky, mineral, bright and even some residual firm malty structure remains in place, holding everything up. Green olive and seawater in the aftertaste. Comments: It's not hard to see why this wee beauty of a dram has won so many fans over the years. Even out of a pathetic little miniature it remains superbly fresh, wonderfully structured, balanced Port Ellen. The very epitome of charming, idiosyncratic, uncomplicated malt whisky that just immediately makes you smile.
SGP: 466 - 91 points.

Port Ellen 18 yo 1981/2000 (43%, Douglas Laing 'Provenance Winter Edition', sherry)
I remember buying this bottle years ago around the time it came out as a present for my Dad, I think it cost me £35 in Loch Fyne Whiskies. And yes, my Mum accompanied me (probably). Colour: amber. Nose: beautifully nutty, fudgey and raisiny sherry. The dark fruit sweetness merges seamlessly with this rather dense and layered peat smoke. Lots of tar, old style herbal medicines, green walnut liqueur and smoky black coffee. Brings to mind an old sherried Lagavulin perhaps. Mouth: a perfect balance of old style sherry and peat. Rich, tarry, leathery, lots of soft wood spices, hessian, espresso, dark chocolate with chilli, walnut oil, Maggi liquid seasoning and Bovril. Chunky, just the right side of meaty and becoming increasingly herbal and savoury. Finish: medium, umami paste, thick peat smoke, black pepper and many more herbal medicines and ointments. Comments: It's tempting to say 46% or 50% would be better for this, but there's something undeniably easy and rather dangerously quaffable about 43% that works well. Just as you can say for sure that 40% would have killed it the other way. If you want sherry and peat in perfect balance you could do a lot worse than this wee gem.
SGP: 566 - 90 points.

Port Ellen 29 yo 1979/2009 (53.2%, Douglas Laing 'Platinum' for World Duty Free, 270 bottles)
I know we're kind of jumping around a bit in terms of vintage here, but I'm rather lazily going upwards by ABV. Also, 'Duty Free', remember that? Colour: straw. Nose: It's amazing how close this is to the Scottish Wildlife, purity, soft embrocations, wet rocks, chalk, bath salts, mineral oils, talcum powder, sun lotion, rapeseed oil, seawater. Beautiful, vivid, complex, refill matured Port Ellen. Gets a little more citric and lemony with time, there's also a very charming barley sweetness that seems to become more concentrated. Overall a lighter style of PE though I'd say. With water: chalkier, drier, more towards seashore, beach pebbles, dried seaweed, flowers, hessian, sand and smoked olive oil. Mouth: indeed, a lighter style, extremely soft, coastal, lots of citrus, sandalwood, bergamot, white flowers, mineral salts, beach pebbles, chalk, lighter briny notes, seawater mixed with olive oil, gorse flower and even some hints of beach foam and wax. With water: it's really a dry one, pure, extremely chiselled, salty and yet globally rather light, fragrant and subtle. Things like waxed canvass, seawater, grapefruit peel all sit alongside a rather light crystallised peat smoke, wood ashes and lighter briny touches. Finish: long, crisp, saline, maritime, very lightly oily, briny and in the background this slightly tarry and wispy peat smoke. Comments: It requires and bit of care and attention but this is a superbly elegant and deceptively complex Port Ellen that rewards a bit of focus and patience. These more floral and fragrant coastal qualities and extremely attractive.
SGP: 456 - 91 points.

Port Ellen 25 yo 1983/2008 (58.4%, Scotch Single Malt Circle, cask #2542, refill sherry, 247 bottles)
Germany's answer to the SMWS already had a few top class Port Ellens in my wee book. Colour: deep ambery gold. Nose: rather typical 1983, that is to say slightly more grubby and 'coastally' dirty with lots of hessian, rubber fishing wellies, creel nets, tarred rope, ink, black olives and sharp ointments. Salted liquorice, boiler smoke and cured game meats. With water: really doubles down on these impressions of rich smoked teas, long-cured game meats, tar, bitter dark chocolate, smoked chilli and medical embrocations. Mole sauce and expensive marzipan. Mouth: extremely big, peppery, tarry and hugely medicinal flecked peat smoke. Smoked teas, dried herbs, ointments, miso paste, salted butter, smoked sea salt, brine mixed with lemon juice and charred shellfish over hot coals. The sherry works here as instead of veering towards rubber it has gone towards sea salt, meats, brine, anchovies, kippers and this wonderfully thick, salty umami vibe. Leathery, deeply tarry and very greasy and 'fat'. With water: some kind of peated treacle, root beer syrup, espresso, hot smoked paprika and fennel seed. Brilliant. Finish: long, deeply tarry, full of hessian, slated liquorice, slightly bitter notes, salted almonds and pine resin. Comments: I think these latter vintages of PE, and 1983 in particular, tended to produce some pretty challenging drams. This is certainly one of those ilk, but by golly it's really damn good as well. Powerhouse Islay malt that also manages to balance a really punchy, leathery and wonderfully dry sherry profile at the same time.
SPG: 477 - 91 points.

Port Ellen 22 yo 1974/1997 (59.2%, Signatory Vintage 'Silent Stills', cask #6754, 260 bottles)
A very cool series that has sheltered some stunning drams over the years, although I have to admit, there's still a fair few of them I haven't tried yet. Such as… Colour: pale gold. Nose: we're noticeably stepping back in time a bit here. This mix of limestone, hessian and very subtle exotic notes of papaya and guava too. Quite a bit of canvass, tar, gauze and pink sea salt too. Big, pure, chiselled, fresh and expressive. With water: lemon zest, grapefruit, herbal teas, smoked sea salt, anchovies in olive oil and chopped parsley. It's also persistently coastal and with an invigorating freshness. Mouth: wonderfully salty, thick, oily and peaty. Bags of tar, seawater, hessian, rope, ointments, pickling juices and brine. There's an earthy, ragged edge to the smoke that takes in black pepper and kippers as well. Preserved lemons, camphor and smoked green tea. Coiled, controlled power, totally superb. With water: medicines, lanolin, coal smoke, tar, oyster sauce, salted almonds, fir wood, antiseptic, seawater. Also these tiny fruity touches of grapefruit, lemon and papaya remain lurking beneath all this freshness and salinity. Finish: extremely long, lemony, ashy, briny, medical, a very thick but pure smokiness and a nicely peppery, weighty peat smoke. Comments: A total star and a style that incorporates earlier and later aspects of Port Ellen's personality with aplomb. Something of a balancing, or even a juggling act, but it pulls it off with style and sheer force of personality.
SGP: 567 - 92 points.