End Date : Jan 07 2026 08:00 PM
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Port Ellen 1978 - 2004. 25 Year Old. Bottled for Diageo Special Releases in 2004. 4th Release. One of 5100 bottles. 70cl. 56.2%. In presentation box.
A bottle of the fantastic Port Ellen 1978 25-year-old 4th Release Islay single malt whisky bottled in 2004 at full cask strength for Diageo’s legendary annual Special Releases series.
The 4th Port Ellen Special Release was an edition of 5100 bottles and was released at its potent natural cask strength of 56.2%. This whisky was from the same vintage as the other early even-numbered bottlings in the Special Releases series and collectively these 1978 bottlings were considered by many fans to have a slight edge over the odd-numbered 1979 vintage Special Release editions, sharing the same phenomenal phenolic power and coastal-tinged austerity but with perhaps just a touch more nuanced complexity and roundness once the elemental onslaught subsides.
One of the great lost distilleries on Islay, Port Ellen was little-known in its lifetime with only a handful of official bottlings produced before the distillery closed in 1983 as part of Diageo forerunner Scottish Malt Distilleries’ swingeing cuts in response to the great whisky lake of the 1970s and 1980s.
Later rediscovered by malt fans thanks to fine independent bottlings from the likes of Gordon & MacPhail, Cadenhead’s and Signatory Vintage, Port Ellen’s reputation mushroomed through the 1990s and 2000s as sensational Rare Malts bottlings were followed by a string of legendary Diageo Special Releases and dozens of superb single cask bottlings from Douglas Laing.
In 2017 the whisky world was stunned when Diageo announced that work was taking place to bring Port Ellen distillery back from the dead - the new Port Ellen distillery finally recommenced production in March 2024.
Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.
This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.
| BID | DATE | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £1,100.00 | 7th January 2026 | 04:45 PM | |
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