Founded | 1948 |
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Headquarters | , |
Products | Scotch whisky |
Website | www |
Douglas Laing & Co is an independent bottler of Scotch whisky. [1] Based in Glasgow, Scotland and established in 1948, the company has a number of brands including its "Remarkable Regional Malts" range, encompassing The Epicurean, Timorous Beastie, Scallywag, Rock Island and Big Peat, as well as Old Particular, Provenance and Xtra Old Particular, which they collectively call their "Exceptional Single Casks". The firm also creates and sells King of Scots Blended Scotch Whisky, Clan Denny Single Casks and Premier Barrel.
The company is a member of the Scotch Whisky Association. [2]
In 2019, the company acquired Strathearn distillery in Perthsire. [3] [4]
Combining only Islay Malt Whisky from the Ardbeg, Port Ellen, Bowmore and the Caol Ila distilleries, Douglas Laing's Big Peat Small Batch Islay blended malt whisky or vatted malt is bottled at 46% alcohol strength. Big Peat has received plaudits worldwide including an award for Scottish Vatted Malt of the Year in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible [5] and Blended Scotch Malt of the Year at the World Whiskies Awards 2010. [6] A festive themed Big Peat limited edition bottling is released annually at cask strength for extra warmth during the cold winter months. [7]
Launched in 2013, Scallywag is a blend of Speyside single malts, predominantly matured in Sherry butts and bottled at 46%. The packaging features a Fox Terrier in honour of the Douglas Laing family's long line of pets. Douglas Laing has also released some limited edition Scallywag products, including cask strength bottlings.
Timorous Beastie is a Highland Blended Malt, featuring a mouse on the packaging in homage to Robert Burns' famous Scots poem, To a Mouse. A blend of Highland single malts, Timorous Beastie combines spirit from Glen Garioch, Glengoyne and Blair Athol Distilleries and is bottled at 46.8%. Since its launch in 2014, Douglas Laing has released a series of aged Timorous Beastie bottlings, including Timorous Beastie 40 Years Old.
Rock Island is an island blended malt scotch whisky, combining single malts distilled on Islay, Arran, Jura and Orkney.
Formerly known as Rock Oyster.
First released in 2016, The Epicurean is Douglas Laing's Lowland blended malt. Bottled at 46% with packaging featuring a character said to be the "1930s cheeky chappy from Glasgow".
Single Cask Malts and Grains
Distribution Brands
Scotch whisky, often simply called whisky or Scotch, is malt whisky or grain whisky, made in Scotland.
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, which are typically made of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of port, rum or sherry are also sometimes used.
Islay single malts are the single malt Scotch whiskies made on Islay or Ìle in Gaelic, one of the southernmost of the Inner Hebridean Islands located off the west coast of Scotland. Islay is one of five whisky distilling localities and regions in Scotland whose identity is protected by law.
Single malt Scotch refers to single malt whisky made in Scotland. To qualify for this category, a whisky must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a mash of malted barley. Therefore, a single malt means that the whisky has not been blended elsewhere with whisky from other distilleries. As with any Scotch whisky, a single malt Scotch must be distilled in Scotland and matured in oak casks in Scotland for at least three years, although most single malts are matured longer.
Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single distillery.
Arran distillery is a whisky distillery in Lochranza, Scotland, Isle of Arran.
Tormore distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery located approximately 1 km south of the River Spey. Its water source is the Achvochkie Burn.
Laphroaig distillery is an Islay single malt Scotch whisky distillery. It is named after the area of land at the head of Loch Laphroaig on the south coast of the island of Islay. The meaning of the toponym is unknown, but a commonly suggested etymology includes the elements lag, breidd, and vík, implying an original Gaelic form similar to Lag Bhròdhaig. The name may be related to a placename on the east coast of Islay, Pròaig, again suggested as meaning 'broad bay'.
Balvenie distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland, owned by William Grant & Sons.
Ardbeg distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery in Ardbeg on the south coast of the isle of Islay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, in the Inner Hebrides group of islands. The distillery is owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, and produces a heavily peated Islay whisky. The distillery uses malted barley sourced from the maltings in Port Ellen.
Bruichladdich distillery is a distillery on the Rhinns of the isle of Islay in Scotland. The distillery produces mainly single malt Scotch whisky, but has also offered artisanal gin. It is owned by Rémy Cointreau and is one of nine working distilleries on the island.
Springbank distillery is a family-owned single malt whisky distillery on the Kintyre Peninsula in western Scotland. It is owned by J & A Mitchell & Company, which also owns the Glengyle distillery, the oldest independent bottler, William Cadenheads, and several blended scotch labels. Licensed in 1828, Springbank is one of the last surviving producers of single malt whiskies in Campbeltown, an area that once had over thirty active distilleries. The distillery produces three types of peated and unpeated malt whisky that it bottles under three distinct brands. The majority of its distillate is bottled as a single malt, with a small percentage sold to larger blenders or ending up in one of J&A Mitchell's own blended scotch labels, such as Campbeltown Loch.
Kilchoman distillery is a distillery that produces single malt Scotch whisky on Islay, an island of the Inner Hebrides. Kilchoman Distillery is in the northwest of the island, close to Machir Bay. Kilchoman was founded by Anthony Wills and remains an independent, family run distillery. It is the smallest on the island but since obtaining Rockside Farm in 2015, is in the process of expanding.
Tamdhu distillery is a single malt Scotch Speyside whisky distillery, located in the village of Knockando in Banffshire, Scotland. Tamdhu comes from Gaelic for "little dark hill".
It has been common practice in the whisky industry for more than a century for distilleries to sell barrels of whisky to blenders and independent bottlers as a means of making additional income. In fact, some distilleries exist solely to serve independent bottlers, and do not market any brands themselves.
Annandale distillery is a whisky distillery producing single malt Scotch whisky in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
Abhainn Dearg distillery or Red River distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery in Uig, on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. It is the most westerly distillery in Scotland. The name is Scottish Gaelic for "Red River" which itself takes its name from a bloody skirmish in the dark ages when local people won a battle against Viking marauders.
Amrut is a brand of Indian single malt whisky, manufactured by Amrut Distilleries. It is the first single malt whisky to be made in India. Amrut (अमृत) or amrit is a Sanskrit word which can be translated as "nectar of the gods", "nectar of life", or "drink of the gods". The company translates it as "Elixir of Life". The brand became famous after whisky connoisseur Jim Murray gave it a rating of 82 out of 100 in 2005 and 2010. In 2010 Murray named Amrut Fusion single malt whisky as the third best in the world. John Hansell, editor of American magazine Whisky Advocate, wrote that "India's Amrut distillery changed the way many think of Indian whisky – that it was, in the past, just cheap Scotch whisky blended with who knows what and sold as Indian whisky. Amrut is making whisky, and it's very good".
Paul John Whisky is a brand of Indian single malt whisky and single cask whisky, manufactured by John Distilleries. The brand launched in London, England on 4 October 2012. Paul John Whisky is made from Indian 6-row malted barley and, for some variants, imported Islay and Aberdeen peat, distilled in traditional copper pot stills and then matured in charred American Oak casks at the company's distillery in Goa, India.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to whisky: