8 new bottlings and 4 premier barrels from Independent bottler Douglas Laing & Co

Posted on August 9, 2008
Filed Under For the collector, Independent |

Independent bottler Douglas Laing & Co, headed by brothers, Fred and Stewart Laing released another eight new bottlings of their Old Malt Cask together with four (4) Premier Barrels .

Here are the tasting notes:

Tasting notes follow firstly for OLD MALT CASK:

OMC 1557 PORT ELLEN 26 YEAR OLD SHERRY MATURED
Nose: Salty fresh, sweet, with a distant smokiness?Palate: Starts sweet with marzipan and runs to toasted nuts/leather?Finish: Warm, rich and sweet while the smoke develops (F&J)

OMC 1556 BLADNOCH 16 YEAR OLD
Nose: Fresh and malty with a pear drops character?Palate: Light, fresh and balanced, with vanilla crème brulee ?Finish: Short and sweet, attractively gristy and elegant (F&J)

OMC 1550 SCAPA 14 YEAR OLD
Nose: Crisp and fresh with a grassy fruitiness?Palate: Its initial sweetness develops into orange zest?Finish: Carries caramelized orange peel and walnuts(J)

OMC 1552 HIGHLAND PARK 11 YEAR OLD
Nose: Warm pears in syrup, candied fruit with a hint of saltiness?Palate: Starts saline dry - runs sweet with liquorice and wood resin?Finish: Short but complex with dry ashes and a hint of leather (F&J)

OMC 1555 CAOL ILA 12 YEAR OLD
Nose: Builds from damp earth, hay and tar?Palate: Moves to sweet smoke with medical connotation?Finish: Culminates in earthy iodine and liquorice (F&J)

OMC 1544 BENRINNES 14 YEAR OLD SHERRY MATURED
Nose: Carries leather, tobacco, ginger and spices?Palate: Burnt orange, macerated fruit, chocolate praline?Finish: Citric, mellow and fragrant (F&J)

OMC 1546 GLEN SCOTIA 16 YEAR OLD
Nose: Clean with autumnal fruit , gristiness and light peat?Palate: Carries dried hay, herbal sweetness and a salty dryness?Finish: The sweetness of green malt, short but pleasant (F&J)

OMC 1545 JURA 15 YEAR OLD
Nose: Fresh citric fruit, unbaked cookie dough + clean malt aspect?Palate: Malty, sweet, hinting at creamy white chocolate praline?Finish: Remains sweet with a hint of smoke(F&J)

The PREMIER BARREL Tasting Notes follows:

PBR 0052 BLAIR ATHOL 9 YEAR OLD SHERRY MATURED
Totally toffee nosed throughout – carrying cosmopolitan chocolate and coffee connotations, it fashions a fabulously focused fusillade of fructiferousness – followed by a fascinating finale. A braw wee B.A – in L.A., K.L., NYNY or B.A. – wherever! “Anytime, any place, anywhere”

PBR 0053 BOWMORE 9 YEAR OLD
A bountiful Bowmore to bottle and boast about in the Bothy – I’ll be bound! Innocuous it is not – iconic it is! An ideal, irresistible and illuminating Islay imbued with an attested abiding axiomatic and authentic accent of ash and particularly potatory palatable palpable and pungent peat. No paluka!

PBR 0054 LAPHROAIG 9 YEAR OLD
Ladle liberally this lustily lubricating Laphroaig – with largesse! Fawn fearlessly at the flawlessly fantastic, fetching, and phenolic “femme-fatale” of fermentation! The laudable and the luminary Laphroaig!

PBR 0055 MACALLAN 10 YEAR OLD
A Macallan magna cum laude! Saliently, symphoniously, susceptibly, satiatably and satisfyingly sweet – synergestically fusing a fairy floss and floral folderol with a harmonizing hallmark handle of honest, humble, honey.….the magnetic, masterful and meritorious made manifest – my Macallan!

More about Douglas Laing & Co:

Glasgow-based Douglas Laing & Co are independent bottlers and blenders headed by brothers, Fred and Stewart Laing, who proved the value of nepotism when they succeeded their father, Fred Douglas who founded the company in 1948.

And, in truth, they’ve not let their Dad down over the past 25 years in charge. Indeed, they’ve grafted to uphold the traditions of the family - apart from the sheep stealing and cattle rustling.

They have successfully expanded their markets so that their highly-rated ranges now regularly features blends up to 25 years old, using the original blend specifications handed down to them - and written out so they wouldn’t forget them.

A key feature is their vast stock of different Malts built up over the last 50 years and it’s been a pleasing perk, benefit and privilege for the current directors to nose and taste some of the finest quality samples.

Fred and Stewart, astute as their father was ground-breaking, got their heads together at one tasting session and boldly declared: “Some of these malts are too good to blend.” And so it was in 1998, before they headed off to celebrate the new Millennium, that their much sought-after old malt cask selection was rolled out.

This is guarded and cherished stock, sold by allocation. But the brothers, once they’ve stopped looking longingly at their pride and joy, will cheerfully dig out a bottle from the corner of a warehouse and happily sell it to discerning customers with accompanying explanatory booklets and carefully-worded tasting notes penned by self-styled, in-house wordsmith, Fred with Stewart checking his spelling.

Today the company has contented clients in the Far East, Europe, the USA, Russia, South Africa and Australasia and, increasingly, in the UK where London giants, Harrod’s, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges as well as premium independent Whisky specialists like The Whisky Shop Group and Vintage House are on the customer manifest.