The Port Ellen distillery was established in the 1820s. At first it operated solely as a malt mill but a few years later it was developed into a distillery. Port Ellen was mothballed in 1983, although its malting is still in operation to this day and supplies all other Islay distilleries. Diageo announced in 2017 that it is planning to reopen the distillery in the next few years.

Douglas Laing has done something astonishing. They've managed to release the oldest independent bottling of Port Ellen single malt to date!

This extraordinary (or should it be "Xtraordinary", since it's bottled for the Xtra Old Particular Black Series?) expression was distilled all the way back in 1979 and left to age in a single refill butt for 40 years. This legendary Islay whisky was bottled in January 2020, with just 299 bottles produced. A tremendous tribute to the closed distillery on Islay.