September 14, 2026 (Paris, France) — An exceptional cask from Port Ellen Distillery, a 1979 Cask of Distinction, will go under the hammer on Fine Spirits Auction, France’s leading online spirits’ auctioneer. Bids open at €1 million and close on October 2nd.
An exceptionally rare lot
This lot is set to cause a stir among whisky enthusiasts: a whole cask of Port Ellen 1979 – Cask of Distinction, presented in partnership with Diageo, will go under the hammer on Fine Spirits Auction on 2nd October 2026. The cask is currently ageing in Royal Lochnagar Distillery in the Scottish Highlands, and the buyer will have the option to mature there until 16th February 2029, then bottle at 50 years old. The auction lot includes comprehensive logistics support, storage, and bottling as part of the official Port Ellen Cask of Distinction range.
Tasting notes by Charles MacLean, Scotland’s leading whisky expert
“Sensational! As good a Port Ellen as I have ever tasted; unusually dark and rich, hugely complex and rewarding”
Cask Number: 1145
Type of cask: Hogshead – Refill American oak
Distilled on: 15 Feburary 1979
Estimated ABV: 51.4 % (estimated June 2026) Estimated number of bottles: 73 (June 2026) Current age: 47 years
Options: defer bottling to achieve 50 years (16/02/2029)
“Opportunities to showcase a Port Ellen cask of this provenance and age are extremely rare. This Cask of Distinction, distilled in 1979, boasts an impeccably documented history and now has an added distinction: its future owner will be granted a special dispensation permitting it to continue maturing until its fiftieth birthday. We’re especially delighted to present this cask to international collectors via Fine Spirits Auction.”
Etienne de La Morsanglière, Director of Fine & Rare Spirits, at La Maison du Whisky
This exact cask was previously sold at auction, in 2022, fetching £875,000 (approximately €1.018 million).
This lot is live on Fine Spirits Auction until 2nd October 2026. Prior registration is required to bid.
About Fine Spirits Auction
Fine Spirits Auction was launched in November 2020 as a joint initiaive between La Maison du Whisky, specialist in whisky, rum and spirits since 1956; and iDealwine, global leader in online wine auctions and France’s favourite wine auctioneer. Since 2020, over 15,000 bottles have been sold on the platform, which has become the go-to site for whisky connoisseurs in France and further afield. Fine Spirits Auction is open to bidders worldwide and currently ships to 40+ countries.
About Port Ellen Distillery
Founded in 1825 by A. K. Mackay & Co. on Islay’s south coast, Port Ellen came under the stewardship of John Ramsay in 1836, a period during which the distillery played a notable role in developing whisky trade with North America. The distillery became part of Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in 1925, after which there was a long interruption in production before it resumed in the late 1960s. Primarily intended to supply malt for blends, it permanently ceased distilling in May 1983 amid an industry-wide streamlining of production capacity across the Scottish whisky sector. However, stocks built up before this closure have continued to be matured and bottled, most notably through Diageo’s Special Releases, with seventeen annual Port Ellen bottlings issued between 2001 and 2017. After a hiatus of more than forty years, Diageo officially brought the distillery back into production in March 2024. The new set-up comprises two pairs of pot stills: the « Phoenix Stills », recreating the pot stills used before the 1983 closure, and the « Experimental Stills », paired with a spirit safe that allows finer control over the different cuts within the heart of the run. The whiskies drawn from the historic stocks therefore come exclusively from distillations carried out up to and including 1983, while the production that began in 2024 marks the start of a new chapter in Port Ellen’s history.
