Port Ellen Reborn: Die Wiedergeburt einer Ikone 2024

Erfahre alles über die beeindruckende Rückkehr der Port Ellen Distillery nach vier Jahrzehnten – ein Meilenstein in der Welt des Single Malt Scotch Whiskys für Diageo. Die Wiedereröffnung stellt zugleich der Abschluss von Diageo’s 185 Millionen GBP Investitionsprogramm dar. Port Ellen Reborn – die Destillerie ist nun für Besucher geöffnet.

Im Überblick – Port Ellen Reborn

• Port Ellen auf Islay, wiedereröffnet nach mehr als 40 Jahren Ruhe, stellt sich als Pionier der Whisky-Innovation vor.
• Mit den neu eingeweihten Phoenix Stills (welche eine exakte Nachbildung der originalen Brennblasen von 1983 darstellen) und Experimental Stills wird eine Brücke zwischen Erbe und Fortschritt geschlagen.
• Eine besondere Neuerung ist der Ten Part Spirit Safe, der eine vielfältige Auswahl an Geschmacksprofilen ermöglicht.
• Port Ellen zielt darauf ab, einen „Atlas des Rauchs“ zu erstellen und nutzt dafür eine Reihe experimenteller Elemente.
• Port Ellen Gemini, eine neue Abfüllung, feiert die Wiedereröffnung der Destillerie mit zwei einzigartigen Whiskys in kristallenen Dekantern. Der 44 Jahre alte Single Malt wurde aus drei außergewöhnlichen europäischen Eichenfässern von 1978 gezogen und dann in zwei divergierende Reifepfade aufgeteilt. Preis: 45.000.- GBP
• Die Verpflichtung zu Klimaneutralität und der Einsatz von erneuerbaren Energiequellen spiegeln Port Ellens Engagement für Umweltschutz wider. Die Initiative zur Klimaneutralität umfasst die Nutzung erneuerbarer Energiequellen, darunter flüssige Biokraftstoffe, und innovative Systeme zur Optimierung des Wasserverbrauchs und der Wärmeverwendung.
• Unter der Führung von Ali McDonald, Master Distiller, und Aimée Morrison, Master Blender strebt die Destillerie danach, die Grenzen des Geschmacks zu erweitern.
• Ein digitales Kunstwerk, Out of the Ether, und der maßgeschneiderte Algorithmus Smoke DNAi visualisieren die Zusammensetzung und Evolution des Rauchgeschmacks von Port Ellen Gemini während der Reifung.
• Ab Juni werden verschiedene Besuchererfahrungen angeboten, von privaten intensiven Erlebnissen für Kenner ($$$) bis hin zu Einführungen in den Produktionsprozess (aktuell kostenlos). Diese sind bereits buchbar auf: malts.com

(Pressemitteilung, Port Ellen/TheStory)

PORT ELLEN DISTILLERY IS REBORN 

DIAGEO’S ICONIC “GHOST” DISTILLERY RETURNS AFTER 40 YEARS, RE-ENVISIONED FOR THE FUTURE TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF EXPERIMENTATION IN SCOTCH WHISKY

PORT ELLEN, ISLAY, 12:00, 19th March 2024: In a landmark moment for Scotch Whisky, Port Ellen Distillery, on the world-famous whisky island of Islay reopened today more than 40 years after it closed.

As the finale in Diageo’s £185 million investment in Scotch Whisky distilleries and experiences, Port Ellen has been specially designed from the ground up to push the boundaries of Scotch through visionary experimentation, and uncover the mysterious dimensions of flavour in smoke. 

The legendary Islay distillery has undergone a radical transformation which draws on its pioneering heritage to lead a trailblazing future. Established on Islay’s south coast in 1825, Port Ellen produced a distinctively smoky Scotch Whisky used primarily in blends, but ceased operating in 1983 alongside many other distilleries at the time. During closure, the whisky found incredible global acclaim and was eagerly sought out by collectors for its quality, character, and increasing rarity. In 2017 Diageo announced the intention to bring about Port Ellen distillery’s return and today marks that final step. 

The re-envisioned distillery features ultra-modern design with an unobstructed line of sight through the transparent glass stillhouse to the stunning coastline of Islay, across the bay to Carraig Fhada lighthouse. At the centre of this rebirth are two new pairs of copper pot stills that will produce the first Port Ellen in over forty years. The Phoenix stills, recreated as an exact replica of the original stills from 1983, will run alongside a smaller set of Experimental stills, to allow for innovation to flourish from inception. 

The underlying mission at Port Ellen is to chart an Atlas of Smoke and explore this flavour profile utilising a range of experimental elements at the distillery, uniquely designed to support this investigation. A distillery that holds a pioneering past, Port Ellen was the first to export whisky to North America as early as 1848, and led the introduction of a bonded warehouse system still used today. Legend has it that Port Ellen housed one of the first ‘spirit safes’ in Scotland, now an industry-wide mainstay, and the new distillery has drawn inspiration from this past storied connection, to reimagine it for a new generation of whisky explorers and innovators as a Ten Part Spirit Safe. This standout addition allows multiple cuts to be drawn from the heart of the run, accessing previously unexplored flavours and characters, and propels the whisky-making art to new heights of intricacy and complexity.

Further distillery innovations include a Six-part Roller Mill, to give added precision, and an onsite laboratory that will support this exploration into the mysterious flavour of smoke. The laboratory grants immediate testing of experiments onsite which reduces environmental impact. Furthermore, Port Ellen distillery will be carbon neutral from the start. The team have employed various methods to ensure it met this target including leveraging electricity sourced from neutral resources and deploying innovative systems to optimise water and heat usage. The energy used across the distillery is all obtained from renewable sources, including liquid biofuel, thus supporting our ambition to be a carbon neutral distillery which is also in line with Diageo’s Society 2030 Spirit of Progress plans. 

Ali McDonald, Master Distiller at Port Ellen says of the return ‘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.’ 

From today, Port Ellen Gemini, a new release to celebrate the rebirth of the trailblazing Islay distillery, is now available to purchase. Presented as two illuminating dimensions of Port Ellen, each housed in spectacular crystal decanters, these are twin whiskies set on individual paths to mark a bright future for the distillery. The 44-Year-Old Scotch Whisky was drawn from three exceptional 1978 European oak casks, specifically selected long ago for this new experiment, before being split into two whiskies which took diverging paths of maturation.  

This moment is also marked by the reveal of an incredible scientifically routed digital artwork, Out of the Ether, that forms the first chapter in the Port Ellen distillery’s mission to chart an Atlas of Smoke. Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography, the chemical composition of the two Port Ellen Gemini whiskies has been analysed at key points over the last two years of their maturation, to give a detailed dataset that reveals precisely the differences in the additive and extractive impact of both casks. 

With data visualisation experts Bose Collins, Port Ellen then developed a bespoke algorithm “Smoke DNAi” (Digital Neoteric Algorithmic image), to decode and visualise this data and explore whisky smoke’s intricate composition and evolution during aging. The artwork brings the magic of maturation to life: a stunning synesthetic visual simile of the flavour profile of these very rare, non-identical twin whiskies.
 
In the future, Port Ellen’s SmokeDNAi has the power to be used by the team at the distillery to visually compare and contrast other liquids – developed at the distillery or even beyond – to shine a fresh light on the smoky flavours within Scotch Whisky in an ongoing quest to chart the Atlas of Smoke.

Aimée Morrison, Port Ellen Master Blender, speaks of the future: ‘Port Ellen will be defined as a distillery that will push boundaries. Each element of the production process allows us to innovate from day one, with an on-site laboratory we can delve into scientific research to examine the possibilities of this legendary Islay malt. We will better understand how the nuanced flavours from cask-to-cask shine in different ways; with the rolling smoke weaving its way through the heart of Port Ellen. Collectively we will endeavour to maintain the undeniable quality of Port Ellen and create whiskies for the future. Through our bespoke algorithmic image machine we reveal today, we can learn even more about the enigma of smoke and bring people with us on this journey – from Islay to the world!’

Port Ellen distillery will welcome the whisky community, connoisseurs, collectors and invited guests to experience a world leading immersion into experimentation in Scotch. A range of experiences will be available to book from June, from a full day private immersion for connoisseurs, to shorter introductions to the production process at this exceptional distillery. Port Ellen will also hold a monthly open day to ensure that passionate followers from around the world will have a chance to see inside the re-envisioned distillery and witness Port Ellen spirit be crafted once again.

These experiences provide standout tastings of Port Ellen Gemini, the opportunity to draw from casks of Port Ellen historic stock and explore the maltings that have provided smoky malt to Islay distilleries since the 1970s. Within the original Port Ellen Pagoda, a new ideas and experimentation space allows visitors to act as auteur – to consider current and future experiments and explore what could possibly be created – in service of Port Ellen’s mission to examine every facet of flavour as it charts an Atlas of Smoke. 

The distillery also features work by award winning artists, including multiple Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (of which Diageo is a long-term supporter) scholars Lucy May Schofield, Fung + Bedford, Eleanor Lakelin, and Harry Morgan, Daniel Brophy and Object studio.

Guests can register their interest to visit via www.portellen.com

Weitere Informationen zu Port Ellen Reborn

• Die Produktionsanlage wurde neu gebaut und erweitert das umgewidmete Gelände der „Port Ellen Maltings“. Meinen letzten Besuchsbericht findest Du hier: The Ultimate Islay Tour – Lagavulin, Caol Ila und Maltings
• Die Port Ellen Distillery auf meiner Whisky-Schottlandkarte.
• Die Webseite der Port Ellen Distillery (redirect auf malts.com)