Fast 100 Jahre nach ihrer ersten Eröffnung, knapp 40 Jahre nach ihrer Schließung, nicht ganz sechseinhalb Jahre nach der Bekanntgabe der geplanten Wiederinbetriebnahme (und nach einer nicht näher benannten Investition) gibt Diageo als Eigentümer heute die Wiedereröffnung der Port Ellen Distillery auf der Insel Islay bekannt.
Bis der Whisky aus der neuen alten Brennerei erhältlich sein wird, werden wir noch mindestens drei Jahre warten müssen. Für die Zeit bis dahin hat Diageo und Port Ellen einige Angebote:
- Ab heute ist Port Ellen Gemini in ausgewählten Märkten erhältlich, wir stellten ihnen dieses Set aus zwei Flaschen mit der UVP von £45,000 im Februar vor.
- Einmal im Monat wird Port Ellen nun einen Tag der offenen Tür veranstalten. Ab Juni 2024 werden die Termine bis zu einem Jahr im Voraus bekannt gegeben und sind online über www.portellen.com buchbar. Dieses Event ist kostenfrei.
- The Port Ellen Reborn experience ist eine öffentliche Tour mit Platz für bis zu zwölf Gäste, dieses 90-minütiges Erlebnis ist erhältlich zum Preis von £200 pro Person. Ebenfalls online buchbar über www.portellen.com.
Mehr und Weiteres rund um die neue Port Ellen Distillery erfahren Sie in der englischsprachigen Pressemitteilung, die wir heute erhalten haben, inklusive Fotos und Videos der neuen Brennerei:
| Presseartikel | Für den Inhalt ist das Unternehmen verantwortlich |
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
About Port Ellen Gemini
Port Ellen Gemini will be available in selected markets with a recommended retail selling price of £45,000 (inclusive of duties and taxes in the UK). Port Ellen Gemini Original has an ABV of 54.9% and Port Ellen Gemini Remnant has an ABV of 53.6%.
About Port Ellen Spirit Safe
“Legend has it that Port Ellen was also the site of the first trials of the spirit safe, but our extensive research has found no trace of such trials. After the closure of the distillery in 1983, the old spirit safe at Port Ellen was donated to Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise Museum in London.
A photograph of the spirit safe features in a publication called Monuments of Industry, published in 1986. It records that the spirit safe is ‘perhaps the earliest spirit safe to survive’ dating it as c1824, and also states that it is ‘uniquely small in capacity, measuring 14.5 inches by 7 inches, by 13 inches high, with holders for three hydrometers’.
The museum moved to Liverpool in 1994 and the Port Ellen spirit safe was sold at auction during the process of the move. The museum didn’t retain the details of the purchaser, so for now, the whereabouts of the Port Ellen spirit safe remains unknown.”
About Port Ellen Distillery Experiences
PORT ELLEN OPEN DAYS
- Port Ellen will hold a monthly open day to ensure that whisky fans from around the world will have a chance to see inside the re-envisioned distillery and witness Port Ellen spirit be crafted once again.
- This will be a chance to meet the team, see inside the still house and learn of the latest experiments that have taken place.
- Running from June 2024, dates will be released up to a year ahead, bookable online via www.portellen.com. This will be a complimentary experience.
PORT ELLEN REBORN
- The Port Ellen Reborn experience is for those looking to learn more about the incredible production process at this cutting-edge distillery.
- New insights will be unearthed into the world of Scotch with guests having the opportunity to draw Port Ellen liquid direct from historic casks, experience a tasting in the warehouse as well as nosing experimental new make spirit, making it possible to glimpse the innovation at the distillery.
- A public tour accommodating up to twelve guests, it is a 90-minute experience priced at £200pp. Available to book online via www.portellen.com.
THE ATLAS OF SMOKE EXPERIENCE AT PORT ELLEN
- The Atlas of Smoke is Port Ellen’s mission to push the boundaries of experimentation in Scotch Whisky by investigating the mysterious flavours and dimensions of smoke. This experience offers Port Ellen devotees a next level immersion with a personalised guided tour by the experts on the ground.
- Guests will taste the stunning new Port Ellen Gemini twin whiskies, as well as draw direct from an historic cask, nose some of our experimental new make spirit and savour an additional dram.
- This private tour allows up to eight guests for a full day, includes a lunch inspired by the distillery’s surroundings and is bookable only via the Diageo Private Client team which you can send an enquiry on via www.portellen.com
