A part of the public sale home’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the sale runs till subsequent Tuesday, 14 June, and likewise contains one-off collaborations with artist Ini Archibong and photographer Trey Ratcliff.
The 2 refill American oak hogshead casks, equipped from Diageo’s Casks of Distinction VIP personal cask buy programme, each have pre-sale estimates of £700,000-1.2m.
The Port Ellen cask was crammed on 15 February 1979, has a present power of 52.9% abv and is estimated to carry 102 bottles. The Brora cask was crammed on 25 March 1979, has a present power of 52.8% and is estimated to carry 145 bottles.
The successful bidder for the Port Ellen cask will collaborate with artist and designer Ini Archibong within the creation of a novel paintings produced from colored Murano glass as a bodily illustration of the ‘Dram and the Water’.
In the meantime, the Brora lot additionally features a collaboration with New Zealand-based photographer Trey Ratcliff, with the successful bidder becoming a member of Ratcliff on his first go to to Scotland and selecting one {photograph} to be saved as a big format print, in addition to getting used as labels when the cask is bottled.
James Mackay, head of uncommon and collectable spirits at Diageo, defined that the successful bidders would have 5 years by which to proceed to mature the whisky, in the event that they selected to, earlier than bottling. ‘They’ll go and go to it, take their buddies, take samples to see how the whisky evolves,’ he stated. ‘It feels totally different to proudly owning a bottle in case you’ve been a part of the journey.’
Islay distilleries Port Ellen and Brora, within the japanese Highlands, closed in 1983. Brora reopened in Could final 12 months, and Port Ellen is scheduled to start manufacturing once more in 2023, with the stills already in place.
Bidding on ‘Whisky of Distinction – Port Ellen & Brora: Casks From A Bygone Period’ started on 31 Could and closes on 14 June. Diageo will donate 5% of the hammer value from each casks to Care Worldwide to assist the charity’s work in Ukraine.
Tasting notes
Brora 1982
Explosively fragrant, with tropical fruit and savoury undertones. Orange peel, then the merest wisp of smoke earlier than a Clynelish-like honeyed waxiness with creamy lemon meringue pie. The smoke is extra obvious – however nonetheless refined – on the palate, earlier than heady jasmine seems alongside extra of that sweetly creamy tropical fruit. A silkily textured whisky, the place the peat sits again and merges right into a saline, Pontefract cake character.
Port Ellen 1979
Darkish liquorice, candy camphor and little preliminary signal of direct smoke from the peat. As a substitute that is extra natural and savoury in character, with inexperienced menthol and a pinch of garam masala. The place the Brora is a whisky of texture, that is all about size because the fiery, explosive energy builds with loads of char and tannin from the oak. Water teases out some orchard fruit and a extra clearly phenolic word, with a candy edge suggestive of aniseed balls.
