Rare bottle of whisky from Port Ellen Distillery set to fetch up to £300,000 at auction

A rare bottle of whisky from Port Ellen Distillery, which re-opened last year after 40 years, is set to fetch up to £300,000 at auction.

The Port Ellen Prism, a 46-Year-Old Single Malt, will go under the hammer at the Distillers One of One Auction in Edinburgh.

The distillery on Islay’s south coast was opened in 1825 and grew into a prominent whisky maker. But the original Port Ellen ceased production in 1983 – one of many distilleries closed in the 1980s.

After a 40-year silence, Port Ellen opened its doors again in March last year.

Distilled in 1978 and the oldest ever release from the distillery, The Port Ellen Prism, was unveiled to mark its 200th anniversary.

The rare whisky was matured over nearly five decades in refill hogshead casks before being married in a refill American Oak puncheon for over ten years.

It is expected to fetch between £150,000 and £300,000 at auction when it goes under the hammer on the 10 October at Hopetoun House.

The collector who acquires the bottle will, alongside three guests, be invited to Islay for an exclusive experience at Port Ellen distillery.

Presented as a singular 1.5-litre bespoke glass decanter, the dram is encased in a striking glass sculpture created by award-winning artist Wilfried Grootens. 

The artwork represents Port Ellen’s iconic smoky character, with Grootens meticulously painting multiple individual sheets of glass that form a 3D image which shifts as you move around it. 

‘Creating this piece representing the character of Port Ellen’s 46-Year-Old whisky in my signature style was a privilege,’ Grootens said,

‘With delicate brush strokes I paint or draw on single panes that, layered, trimmed and polished, seemingly float in the glass creating three dimensional shapes, visualising the smoke within and exploring its depth of flavour.’

Port Ellen Master Blender Aimée Morrison describes its profile as ‘amber-gold layers of currants, berries, and chocolate mingle with smoke from the core, combined with hints of spices, cinder toffee, and a lingering sea breeze.’

‘In our work at the distillery, there are minute and often almost invisible shifts made through scientific precision or creative intuition which are very much felt in the final product,’ she said.

‘Slight changes in pressure, temperature and time can have a notable influence on flavour, in the same way that imperceptible adjustments make a huge difference to the final glass pieces created by Wilfried Grootens.’

The whisky has been donated by Diageo to The Distillers One of One Auction with Sotheby’s this October at Hopetoun House, Scotland. 

Proceeds from the auction are deployed to charitable giving, with money raised channelled into the Youth Action Fund, in support of disadvantaged young people in Scotland. 

Read more Whisky news here.

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