Whisky Focus - Douglas Laing 70th Anniversary Year XOP Port Ellen & Big Peat 26 Year Old

Glasgow based independent whisky bottler and soon to be distillery owner Douglas Laing has just unveiled two rather special "Platinum" themed whiskies to round off their 70th anniversary year, a XOP Platinum Port Ellen 1982 Vintage Single Cask and the second release of Big Peat’s aged limited edition trilogy; the Platinum Edition Aged 26 Years Old.

The XOP Platinum Port Ellen 1982 bottling has come from a single cask which has yielded just 273 bottles, naturally coloured, non chill-filtered and bottled at natural cask strength of 54.5% ABV. Described by Douglas Laing as offering up a mouth-puckering palate of salt, tar, phenol, coal dust and mocha. The elusive Islay distillery was the preferred Single Malt of the family firm’s founder, making it a rather appropriate choice to round of the firm's 70th anniversary year.

The Big Peat Platinum Edition 26 Year Old is also bottled at a natural cask strength of 51.5%, and, with only 3,000 bottles in existence, the whisky is said to burst with smoky barbecued meat plus a salty sweet character and as we have come to expect from Douglas Laing the Big Peat 26 is also offered without colouring or chill filtration.

Cara Laing, Director of Whisky at her family’s firm remarked "It’s been a genuinely landmark, momentous and unforgettable year at Douglas Laing. From the launch of our Old Particular "double pack" in February, collectively delivering 70 years of Whisky excellence with a 35 Years Old Single Cask Single Malt and a 35 Years Old Grain, to our global distributor conference followed by a very memorable gala dinner in August, the release of our XOP Platinum Single Cask series and now Big Peat’s Platinum bottling, we’ve truly honoured this significant milestone in our family history in more ways than my grandfather could ever have imagined. Here’s to the next 70 years of Whisky adventures!"

Big Peat Platinum 26 Years Old Limited Edition has a RRP £175 and you will have to dig a deeper to get your hands on the XOP Platinum Port Ellen Vintage 1982 which has a RRP of £1,950, you will soon find them both available from specialist online whisky retailers such  as The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt
 

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