Legendary “ghost” distillery, Port Ellen on the island of Islay, has reopened more than 40 years since it ceased whisky production.
The move represents the final chapter in a £185m investment by parent company Diageo, which has also seen the reopening of another famous “ghost” distillery, Brora, as well as investment in the company’s Scotch whisky visitor experiences.
Drawing on Port Ellen’s heritage as one of the most pioneering distilleries of the 19th century, the new distillery has been designed from the ground up to push the boundaries of innovation, experimentation and sustainability.
At the heart of the distillery are two pairs of copper stills. The first pair – The Phoenix Stills – are precise replicas of the original Port Ellen stills. The second pair – The Experimental Stills – are intended to take the art and science of whisky exploration to new levels of precision.
The Experimental Stills are linked to a 10-part spirit safe – an innovative piece of distilling equipment that allows Port Ellen’s whisky makers unprecedented opportunity for experimentation. While standard spirit safes allow for three cuts of the spirit run – the head, the heart and the tails – the 10-parter does what it says on the tin, allowing multiple cuts to be drawn from the heart of the run, accessing previously unexplored flavours and characters. The distillery has a dedicated on-site laboratory and full-time technician to analyse and catalogue the experimental whiskies that emerge.
Port Ellen is carbon neutral, with all of its energy produced by a renewable-biofuel boiler and every part of the distillation process optimised so that water and heat are recycled.
A special new release to celebrate the rebirth of the distillery is available to purchase. Presented in crystal decanters, Port Ellen Gemini offers twin 44-Year-Old Scotch whiskies drawn from three 1978 European oak casks.
Ali McDonald, master distiller at Port Ellen, commented: “It is an honour to take up this new position at the helm of an iconic distillery and build on Port Ellen’s pioneering past. Port Ellen holds a very special place in the hearts of passionate whisky aficionados, and to see spirit flow off these stills once again is an incredible moment for the Islay community and wider whisky world. We are deeply committed to pushing the boundaries of Scotch through experimentation. I’m excited to see what we can now create.”
