It's been a while since my last post and the whisky reviews have been stacking up! One of my favourite places I have visited recently was The Anderson in Fortrose and in particular their whisky bar. With 218 malts on offer the choice was extensive and the owner was happy to engage in whisky banter. After studying the list my friend Giles and I decided to go for broke and try the Port Ellen 24 (1978). Having only ever been given the tiniest of sniffters at an undisclosed distillery I was keen to get my hands on a glass on this legendary malt. Coming in at cask stregnth it was a fiery mouthful without water. Golden syrupy in colour the nose was light, sweet and suprising delicate for an Islay malt. The flavour was beautifully complex, developing nicely on the tongue. A salty start mellowed into sweet, subtle smoke before splitting to give a woodiness at the back of the tongue and what can only be described as a pleasant, medicinal 'gning gning' of peat on the sides. I could happily have had a number of these but at £10 a go and with Kirsten (Giles's wife) patiently putting up with our musings and hand wavings (some 25 minutes worth) we made do with just the one. A great find and many thanks to Giles and Kirsten for the introduction to this great bar.