Port Ellen 6th Release

Overall rating
91.40/100
votes
256
Whiskybase ID
WB409
Category
Single Malt
Distillery
Bottler
Distillery Bottling
Bottling serie
Diageo Special Releases 2006
Vintage
1978
Bottled
27.06.2006
Stated Age
27 years old
Number of bottles
4560
Strength
54.2 % Vol.
Size
700 ml
Bottle code
L6178CM000
Barcode
5000281021188
Added on
14 sep 2007 7:50 pm
UncoloredNon-chillfilteredCask Strength

Average value

€ 3705.86

69 × in wishlist

256 × member ratings

441 × in collection

Whisky reviews for Port Ellen 6th Release

23 users have left 25 reviews for this whisky. Average rating is 91.40 points.

  1. Calmar scored this whisky 96 points Connoisseur

    An ingenious aroma, a masterpiece taste, the finish is weaker, but does not reduce the level of sensations, rather it gives you a break, comprehend and go to the next round - uberwiski.
    • Nose
      Open, dry, soft, velvety, the first nose is spicy-woody with fruit jam; almost immediately enveloped in a delicate, smoky veil, peat, ash-mineral notes, polished wood, a little furniture varnish and a carpentry workshop, dark chocolate and leather goods, shoe cream, whetstone, animal shades.
    • Taste
      Dense, oversaturated, it's not even a fountain - it's a geyser, what pressure, what concentration - woody, sweet, mineral, smoky-peaty, industrial notes and how harmonious and balanced everything is, the variety of derivatives is overwhelming, I won't even try to list everything, anyway not to convey this extravaganza, you need to try it yourself.
    • Finish
      Soft, calm, oak, light smoky-peaty and ash-mineral shades framed by the remnants of a flavor explosion - creamy sweetness, chocolate, leather goods and tobacco.

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  3. MikerG2k scored this whisky 91 points Connoisseur

    • Nose
      91 91
    • Taste
      92 92
    • Finish
      90 90

  4. geriud scored this whisky 93 points Connoisseur

    • Nose
      92 92
    • Taste
      93 93
    • Finish
      93 93

  5. lincolnimp scored this whisky 89 points Connoisseur

    Port Ellen H2H - 5 x Official Releases v 5 x Independent single cask offerings

    I like Port Ellen just as I like Brora, with both distilleries you can find some superb independent bottlings. With Brora there are also plenty of not so good IB but in my experience nearly all Port Ellen IB, especially those that are single cask, cask strength offerings nearly always are pretty good to excellent.
    In summary I expected The Bottlers offering to be very hard to beat and so it turned out, with the GM offering just behind but also excellent. It was also no surprise to me that the best of the official bottlings was the first RM bottle, the 20 year.
    I like the Official Port Ellens but they just lack a bit of sparkle compared to the best IB single casks.
    I liked the 8th Release better than most people do, it suited my palate and I think it is as good as the 10th Release which up until now was my favourite of the annual releases
    Tasted OB/IB/OB/IB and so on

    IB-1982 19 year 61.7% The Bottlers cask 570 -WB 2262- 92/94/95
    IB-1980 16 year 64.4% cask 5105-5110 GM WB 81216 – 92/94/94
    OB-1978 20 year 60.9% Rare Malts WB 4386 - 91/93/92
    OB-1978 29 year 55.3% 8th Release – WB 3994 – 90/93/92
    IB-1983 28 year 58.9% cask MoS 11011 Malts of Scotland WB 26723 – 91/92/91
    IB-1983 28 year 55.5% cask S1462 Silver Seal WB 30832 – 90/91/91
    OB- 1979 30 year 57.7% 9th Release WB 10610 – 89/91/90
    OB-1978 27 year 54.2% 6th Release WB 409 – 88/89/91
    IB-1979 36 year 56.6% cask 10914 Douglas Laing XOP- WB 73383 – 90/87/88
    Extra OB 7th Release 70cl 53.8% WB 638 – 89/88/87
    IB-1979 36 year 56.6% cask 10914 Douglas Laing XOP- WB 73383 – 90/87/88
    OB-1979 28 year 54.7% 7th Release (20cl bottle) – WB 17018 – 88/87/86

  6. lincolnimp scored this whisky 89 points Connoisseur

    This is a subtle PE which needs a little water to get the best out of it, but still it lacks a bit of sparkle for me.

    Nose
    This is a little distant at first, wet pebbles, hints of seaweed, rock pools, white pepper with a little green apple in the distance.
    Palate
    Mouthfeel is fine but the attack of flavours is well lacking a little?
    A little water is added to see if it improves and it does with some nice pepper coming out and the peat is really restrained with some plum and hints of treacle and toffee Finish
    This is where it picks up a few marks as it comes together nicely the pepper is slightly dominant but the fading fruit of plum ans now a little peach works really well.
    • Nose
      88 88
    • Taste
      89 89
    • Finish
      91 91

  7. vlad78 scored this whisky 92 points Connoisseur

    I approach these releases with a little excitement every time, as this is a silent production that became legendary even before I got into whisky and is one of my favorites. Below I will describe my feelings, but I have one more sample, so you can see my notes twice. Let's see how they differ. So.
    • Nose
      91 91
      After pouring the contents into a glass and covering it with a lid (and this is a hoard), I let it stand for a while, not impatience took up and I stuck my nose into it, like a hummingbird into a flower, almost sipping whisky with my nose (it could be an interesting, but dangerous experience). The first layer came out dried and sweet mango, then the glass stood for a couple of minutes open and showed me green and then yellow notes: mown green grass, fresh leaves plucked from trees, dried stems of field plants, a little dusty and again sweet tones of a yellow apple and pears duchess. All this is framed by a barely perceptible smoke, which, as if by the wind, was brought from a distant fire. Further, honey aromas are concentrated. It is rather linden honey, also fumigated with smoke. Shoe cream, apricot. With water, it became sweeter (and this is a frequent occurrence), with almost receding smoke, with a tinge of sour tones.
    • Taste
      93 93
      On the palate, these familiar ashy tones are much more perceptible, they are the first to cut into the receptors. Further, oily oily notes emerge - this is used machine oil, which covered my teeth in a thin layer. Of course, the same apple notes and duchess. The smoke is much brighter in taste than in aroma. With water. Immediately sugar, and then sharp sour notes of cherry plum and still green, early picked apples.
    • Finish
      91 91
      A little iodine, bright, oily, fatty, thick and viscous, with sweet yellow, juicy apples, with smoke-dried apples, with burnt rubber, with a long feeling of ash in the mouth. With water, the aftertaste added smoke and harshness.

  8. ctu scored this whisky 91 points Connoisseur

    • Nose
      91 91
    • Taste
      92 92
    • Finish
      91 91

  9. Fight65 scored this whisky 91 points Connoisseur

    • Nose
      91 91
    • Taste
      92 92
    • Finish
      91 91

  10. jocmueller did not rate this whisky Expert Senior

    Bottle # 0002 sold empty at ebay.

  11. Hvdree scored this whisky 92 points Connoisseur

    • Nose
      92 92
    • Taste
      93 93
    • Finish
      92 92

  12. Allandale scored this whisky 90 points Connoisseur

    I expected more from this.
    • Nose
      Quite hot, linseed-oil,green tea elements, seaweed notes, moss and green-olive hints. Smokiness.
    • Taste
      Lemon accented. Chilli flakes, light smoke. Campfire elements present.
    • Finish
      Singed turf and clean acidity. Long finish.

  13. ctu scored this whisky 91 points Connoisseur

    On the nose it's slowly opened, but the time is compensate a lot of rich aromas. Little bit slightly on the taste, but even so complex. Amazing!
    • Nose
      Sweet peat, farmy notes, hay, salted caramel, vanilla, apple, kiwi and lime, wet cardboard, slightly medicines and smoke
    • Taste
      Sweet peat, sour citruses, tangerine, salty minerals, coffee, grass, ash. Not too complicated, but it tastes great.
    • Finish
      Long, the sweet / salty competition even here, the ash is on acme. Very special.

  14. Waykid scored this whisky 92 points Expert Senior

    Tasted in a festival so no extensive notes. In my experience very much in the same line with the excellent 3rd release: rather mild and round smoke, very balanced, fresh green apple in the Granny Smith -style, white pepper here, whereas the 3rd was a tad more in the direction of green pepper. They stand toe to toe and are the favorite expressions of the series I have tried so far.

  15. stf_92 scored this whisky 91 points Expert Senior

    A fine peat that is revealed with a little water. A good PE that is drunk alone. A lot of fruits

  16. bull10298 scored this whisky 90 points Expert Senior

    This is part of Diageo?s 2006 batch of Special Releases. Like Brora, Port Ellen
    distillery closed in 1983, and also represents a real loss for most malt
    aficionados. Some of us even consider it the best of all the Islays. This is the
    oldest bottling of Port Ellen ever undertaken by Diageo. Typically balanced and
    well mannered on the nose, with a restrained peat smokiness and maritime,
    medicinal characteristics. Soft and yielding on the viscous palate, with
    apricots and plus emerging alongside peat, subtle smokiness and brine. At its
    best neat, despite its strength, though water releases more of a maritime
    dimension. The finish is long, elegant and nutty. 5,610 bottles.

    http://www.whisky-pages.com/notes/distillery.php?id=ellen

     

  17. markkerr02 scored this whisky 92 points Expert Senior

    Color: Yellow Scent: Sweetness, Smoke, Certain wood and vanilla Taste: Besak, Taniner, Smoke, Dry wood and some tanines Aftertaste: Long and nice http://smad.se/provningar/Provning%2066%20%C3%85rsm%C3%B6te%202007.html

  18. Prof.Schoof did not rate this whisky Expert Senior

    This Whisky was sold for 955 € at Whiskyauction in Feb. 2015

  19. Rob77 scored this whisky 90 points Member Senior

    Rather timid. A-.
    • Nose
      Slightly alcoholic. Farm yard. Sweet ashy peat. Moss, wet hay, vanilla, grapefruit, kiwi, lemons, honey, sea salt. Not very peaty or smoky on the nose. Lots of citrus notes here. Ash and peat smoke. Honeydue melon. Key lime, Kalamata olives.
    • Taste
      An explosion of sweet ashy peat smoke, then more citrus notes, tropical fruits (peaches, grapefruit, tangerine) also pumpkin and butternut squash.
    • Finish
      Medium/short. better undiluted. Less tar and cigar ash. More tropical fruit, but subdued. Cloves and all spice. Sea salt and seaweed. Fall macintosh apples at the very end.

  20. checkpointuk scored this whisky 90 points Connoisseur

    http://www.weinkenner.de/2013/port-ellen-6th-release-aus-2006-thosop-handwritten-label-von-2010-28985/ Color: straw yellow
    Nose: a pretty simple first impression. Earthy, smoky, delicate maritime notes, lemon juice, sweet pineapple and apples.
    Taste: Rich, creamy lemon syrup, instantly salty and spicy with some bitter aromas of orange peel. Then the peat also starts, and the PE gets a little bit more crazy. Harmonious round mouthfeel.
    Finish: Pretty long, but with the slightly bitter orange note. Garden herbs, sea salt, smoky peaty lemon and a little wood. Dry peat is left behind.
    Note: If the slightly bitter orange is not - The dry peat taste in the finish is the best!
    90 points (nose: 89 / taste: 90 / finish: 91)

  21. Erik Elixir scored this whisky 89 points Connoisseur

    N: orange, wet cardboard, apple, charcoal and pepper
    T: briny - pickle, coffee and resin/was
    F: briny, lemon, spices, medium drying and sherry notes - some nuts
    tasted with Aby and JJ
    compared with Port Ellen 1979 DL OMC - 60th Anniversary

  22. Sphexish scored this whisky 91 points Member Senior

    (Tasted in comparison with Elements of Islay PE5)
    • Nose
      Surprisingly subtle and subdued; needs some time to breathe. Mostly maritime and medicinal notes, with some light fruitiness.
    • Taste
      Sweetly peated; age showing here. No peat monster, no tar. Fresh lemon, waxy, tingling pepper, but mostly on salt and coastal notes.
    • Finish
      Long and intense for such a whisky with such a light fragrance! The best part IMHO. Very mouth-coating and enduring, with the peat easing more onto the foreground, vying with the salt, lemon and pleasant spices.

  23. Sonett scored this whisky 91 points Connoisseur

    • Nose
      A bit shy at first and rather simple. Lemon and coastal notes, yellow apple, some melon. Slightly sherried, lightly grassy.
    • Taste
      Slightly coastal and salty, Spicy hints (nutmeg and pepper) and Honey
    • Finish
      slowly fading, holding the middle between earthy peat, pepper and softer vanilla notes.

  24. Drochaid scored this whisky 92 points Connoisseur

    The 6th release of Diageo`s legendary year Special Release Port Ellens.

    Distilled in 1978 and bottled at 27 years of age this is an increasingly

    rare dram as investors and drinkers fight over the remaining bottles.
    TWE

  25. Feusi scored this whisky 92 points Connoisseur

    Surprisingly mild variant, compared to other bottlings of the same edition. Strong medicine, smoke, salt, yet sweet. Very peaty long pleasant finish. One of the best.

  26. hhwang82 scored this whisky 92 points Member Junior

    I think it probably drinks better neat, and what a mouthfeel!
    • Nose
      neat: iodine, sea spray, soft esters. w/ water: vanillas and caramel come out some
    • Taste
      neat: wow. peat held up with fruits underneath. incredibly balanced with an upfront attack, middle, and finish! w/ water: more wood up front. peat has married w/ wood nicely. light, yet incredibly complex. subtle. some grassiness. salt on the attack.
    • Finish
      medium long, but assertive. slight tea notes (black) gently receding to the back.

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