Port Ellen 1978 39 Year Old Untold Stories - The Spirit Safe 70cl / 50.9%

A bottle of Port Ellen 39 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, distilled in 1978 and bottled in 2018.

This is the first release in a series of Untold Stories and is inspired by The Spirit Safe, a device introduced following the Excise Act of 1823 which was intended to stop the avoidance of excise duty. The windowed cabinet would receive spirit from the still, allowing the distiller to separate the heart of the run from the foreshots and feints, but the liquid could not be accessed directly without the correct pair of keys which were only held by the excise man. Since 1983, one key is held by the excise man and one by the distiller.

Port Ellen was the first Scotch whisky distillery to introduce a spirit safe. The first 'encloser' was invented by spirit dealer James Fox in 1819 and subsequently developed by John Ramsay, who leased Port Ellen distillery from 1836.

This is a vatting of ex-bourbon and refill European oak sherry casks and is bottled at 50.9% ABV. The bottle is held within a wooden cabinet which can unlocked using a pair of keys provided.

This is bottle number 0813 of 1500 from Batch Number CW7I.