|
12th May 2015 |
|
Douglas Laing
have announced the creation of their
Remarkable Regional Malts.
 You
may all already be familiar with the
regional blended or I should say vatted
whiskies from Douglas Laing but from now
on they will all come under the
"umbrella" title of "Remarkable Regional
Malts"
Remarkable Regional Malts is Douglas
Laing's collection of four specialist,
small batch Vatted Malt Scotch Whiskies
marketed together with focus on the
regional variations in style and
flavour.
The range consists of:
- Big
Peat Islay Malt at 46% ABV
- Scallywag Speyside Malt at 46%
ABV
- Timorous Beastie Highland Malt
at 46.8% ABV
- Rock Oyster Island Malt at 46.8%
ABV
As the peat heads amongst you will know the excellent smoky
Islay vatted malt "Big Peat" was the
first of the four whiskies launched back
in 2009, the recipe for this big
characterful Islay dram includes Ardbeg,
Bowmore, Caol Ila and the forever
getting rarer Port Ellen.
Then near the end of 2013 the creative
team at Douglas Laing added Scallywag, a
sweet vatted Speyside malt which is a
classic quality sherried Speyside whisky
with a superb balance of vanilla and
sherry.
Timorous Beastie followed in 2014, a
vatted Highland malt containing amongst
others whiskies from Dalmore, Glengoyne
and Glen Garioch, a light bodied Highland
dram with a bit of fruit, honey, spicy
character and with a dryish finish.
Rock Oyster which was launched earlier
this year completes the Douglas Laing Remarkable Regional Malts
range, it is a Island vatted malt which
contains whiskies distilled on the
Islands of Jura, Islay, Arran and
Orkney. I have yet to taste this final
addition to the range but DL's
description of it is certainly very
appealing to me and it is one I will
make a point of tasting in the near
future
In line with the Douglas Laing
philosophy to bottle as the Distiller
intended, each of the Remarkable
Regional Malts is without colouring or
chill filtration.
The premise of the range is to deliver
the ultimate taste of the region. Each
of the four bottlings contain some of
the very best Single Malts from their
respective region and are all multi
award-winning Whiskies in their own
right.
Fred Laing, Douglas Laing’s Managing
Director, comments: "The development of
our overarching Remarkable Regional
Malts range seemed a natural progression
for us given the growth of our Vatted
Malt brands. Big Peat once stood in
isolation within our portfolio, now 'he'
is part of a core selection of regional
Malts which is a major focus for the
Company."
Douglas Laing's Remarkable Regional
Malts are available from
The Whisky Exchange
|
Big Peat (Islay Region) Tasting Notes
|
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose: Some sweet vanilla,
coffee, dark chocolate, some pear,
bonfire peat smoke.
Taste:
Ashy peat smoke, coffee, liquorice,
sweet vanilla.
Finish: Slowly fading and slowly
drying peat.
Comment:
Big Peat with a delicious vanilla
sweetness. A peaty, ashy bonfire dram
that wont disappoint any fan of the
peaty Islay region whiskies.
SMW Score 92/100
|
Scallywag (Speyside Region) Tasting
Notes
|
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
A lovely balance of vanilla tablet,
light playful oak spice prickle, orange
and raisins.
Taste:
Light creamy vanilla, stewed plum, a
graduation of zesty orange and lemon
peel, oak spice - ginger and cinnamon
some dark chocolate.
Finish:
Sweet, zesty
orange, a touch of cinnamon, coffee and vanilla.
Comment:
A lovely well balanced well put together
vatted malt. A good portion
of sherry for the sherry oak lovers but
it is not a big bold sherry monster, the
sherry has been balanced well with the
bourbon cask whisky, loads going on,
full of flavour. A classic quality
sherried Speyside whisky with a superb
balance of vanilla and sherry.
SMW Score
87/100
|
Timorous Beastie (Highland Region) Tasting Notes
|
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose: Barley sugar sweetness
drizzled with lemon with some mild honey
and pear hiding behind it and just the
slightest touch of oak spice.
Taste: A light bodied malt
with a silky smooth delivery of fruit
leading the way, some lovely sweet
candied orange and lemon closely
followed by mild honey, some vanilla
fudge and oak spices.
Finish: Medium length slightly dryish
finish with a light honeyed sweetness
and a little spice and zesty lemon
hanging around.
Comment:
A very easy to drink Highlander and it
is just as you would expect from a
Highland region malt whisky, light
bodied with a bit of fruit, honey, spicy
character and with a dryish finish. It
dropped a few points with a bit of a
short finish but that's easily solved
just take another mouthful (in
moderation of course). It has no age
statement but I would guess there has
been some skilful vatting of young and
old here to give us the best of both
ages.
SMW Score
83/100
|
Rock Oyster (Island Region) Tasting Note
|
Unfortunately I haven't had the chance
to taste the new Rock Oyster but this is
how DL describe the small batch vatted
malt.
Producer's Tasting Notes:
Douglas Laing’s Rock Oyster is massively
maritime in style and like its namesake
carries a hidden delicacy inside.
Anticipate wave soaked rocks and a salty
oceanic, fresh influence on the nose
with a more subtle palate carrying soft
and rather sweet peat paralleled with
smoke, honey, damp ash, liquorice and
late pepper. All that is neatly
replicated on the long, more-ish finish.
|
Where To Buy Whisky Online
|
|
Select a country for a list
of specialist Whisky shops who delivers
to you::
|
Whisky Focus
<<<Back to
Whisky Focus for more Whisky News
|
Top
Of Page |
|
|
Online Whisky Shops |
|
|
|
New Whiskies |
| Check out the latest
new whisky releases. |
 |
| Worldwide delivery
available.
More Info |
|
|
|
Whisky Newsletter |
 Keep up to date with
the latest whisky news and special
offers
More Info |
|
