Port Ellen is a whisky distillery in Port Ellen on Islay, established in 1825 by Alexander Kerr MacKay.1,2,3 It closed in 1929 and reopened in 1967, making whisky almost only for blending.4,5,6 It fell silent again in May 1983 and reopened on 19 March 2024.3,7,8
Outstanding review score, 92 out of 100Outstanding92/100
WF's Little Duos: today, two very Recent Port Ellens, IB vs OB
Producing, 1967–1983
Silent, 1983–2024
Producing, 2024–today
182519001950Today
A malt mill and the first spirit safe
MacKay built it on the site of a malt mill; most sources give 1825, the year on a stone there, but some say it opened in 1824.1,2,3 The first trials of the spirit safe, designed by James Fox or Septimus Fox by different accounts, were carried out here in 1824.4,5,9 The safe lets distillers cut away the heads and tails of a run and keep the middle "heart", without direct access to the spirit.4,5,9
In 1833 his uncle sent John Ramsay, aged 18, to check on how his relation John Morrison was running the distillery.10 MacKay struggled, and in 1836 the 21-year-old Ramsay took over the lease, though one account says Major James Adair held it until 1840.4,8,11 Ramsay was one of the pioneers of exporting Scotch whisky to the United States.4,8,11 In 1848 he won the right to export whisky in larger casks and store it in bonded, duty-free warehouses before export.9,10,12 Ramsay handed day-to-day running to James Stein, a distiller at Ardenistiel who married his sister and moved to Port Ellen in 1848.10 Stein's arrival let Ramsay spend more time on the mainland, and through a family inheritance he built up Sherry and Madeira imports, using the casks for his whisky.
DCL and the first silence
1929–1967
The Dewar and Buchanan firms joined The Distillers Company (DCL) in 1925, so Port Ellen passed to it.5,6,8 Distilling stopped in 1929, as Prohibition in the USA left a depressed market for whisky.4,5,6 The site was kept for malting and storing whisky until it was rebuilt in 1967.4,8,9
Sources disagree: when it closed. This page uses 1929.
1929: Historic Environment Scotland (Canmore), Gazetteer for Scotland, Difford's Guide4,5,12
1930: Wikipedia, Scotch Whisky, Whisky Advocate
Whisky for blends
1967–1983
In 1967 it reopened with 4 stills instead of 2: 2 wash stills of 28,000 litres and 2 spirit stills of 25,000 litres.5,8,9 The stills were heated by coal at first and later by steam coils, and Low Robertson & Co. Ltd. held the licence.5,8,9 For the next 16 years it made whisky almost only for blending, not as single malt.6,15,16 In 1973 drum maltings, big steel drums that turn like washing machines and blow warm air through moist barley, were built beside it for DCL's Islay distilleries.5,8 It closed in May 1983 after a slump in demand, when it could make just over 1.5 million litres of alcohol a year but ran at about half that.
Next: Whisky for blends, Silent, then revived, Back in production, How it makes its spirit
While it was silent, its fame grew and its remaining stocks of whisky became collector's items.3,7,8 In 1986 Guinness took over DCL.5 DCL then merged with Arthur Bell & Sons to form United Distillers, which Whiskypedia lists as the owner from 1986.5,8 Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo in 1997.5,8 On 9 October 2017, Diageo announced a £35 million plan to reopen Port Ellen and Brora.6,8,17 In May 2018 Georgie Crawford, who had run Lagavulin, became Project Implementation Manager to bring Port Ellen back into production.18,19
Back in production
It reopened on 19 March 2024 with copies of the old stills beside a smaller experimental pair, under distillery manager Ali McDonald and master blender Aimée Morrison.1,3,7 Most spirit safes make 3 cuts of a run, head, heart and tails, but its 10-part safe can draw many cuts from the heart.1,3,7
How it makes its spirit
Port Ellen aims for malt peat-smoked to 35 parts per million (ppm).20 Fermentation in its Oregon pine washbacks, where yeast is added, lasts at least 98 hours and no more than 130 hours.20,21 Long fermentations like this release more fruity notes.20 Its main stills are large onion-shaped copper pot stills based on the shape of the old ones.22 It can make 1.6 million litres of alcohol a year, using water from the Leorin Lochs.5,6,23 Its old buildings are listed as Category B, which gives legal protection to buildings of special architectural or historic interest.24
