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Port Ellen 1979-2002 - 23 Year Old - Wilson & Morgan - Barrel Selection - Single Cask 5538



Lot ID:
0825-547

shipping rate:
3

Total Bids:
85   

Winning Bid
£430.00


End Date : Jan 07 2026 08:10 PM

We may have sold this bottle before. Click the graph below to view our sales history.


CONDITION

Fair.

FILLING LEVEL

Lower Neck

LOT DESCRIPTION

Port Ellen 1979 - 2003. 23 Year Old. Bottled by Wilson & Morgan for their Barrel Selection series. Cask number 5538. 70cl. 46%. In wooden presentation box.

Distillery:  Port Ellen

Distillery Status:  Closed

Bottler: Wilson & Morgan

Region: Islay

Distilled Year: 1979

Bottling Year: 2002

Age: 23

Limited Edition: yes

Cask Number: 5538

Category: Single Malt

Country: Scotland

Bottle Size: 70cl / 700ml

ABV: 46%

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.

Mario Rossi Jr founded his drinks business in Treviso near Venice in northern Italy in 1946, after learning the wine trade from his father, Guiseppe. The company flourished selling imported whisky, cognac and champagne, and in the 1960s and 1970s began importing high end blended whiskies for their customers and building up industry relationships that would become invaluable. 

Mario Rossi's sons Fabio and Walter took over the family business in 1987, renamed the company Rossi & Rossi and began bottling single malt whiskies under the Wilson & Morgan name in 1992, with the first whiskies sourced from Cadenhead’s, one of several Scottish companies who had previously bottled exclusive casks for Rossi & Rossi. Today, Wilson & Morgan’s whiskies are still chosen by chairman Fabio Rossi, a trained oenologist, and are all bottled at cask strength or 46% without colouring or chill filtration.

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BID HISTORY

BID DATE TIME
Last Bids £430.00 7th January 2026 07:53 PM