Douglas Laing Old Particular “Probably Orkney’s Finest Distillery” 12-Year-Old Single Cask DL14290
Douglas Laing Old Particular “Probably Orkney’s Finest Distillery” 12-Year-Old Single Cask REF - DL14290
|
Orkney’s Finest 12-Year-Old |
Data Sheet |
| Owner: | Douglas Laing |
| Barcode: | 5014218816488 |
| Price: | NIS 320-340 |
| Available in Israel | Yes, or something similar* |
| Alcohol: | 48.4% abv |
| Cask Type: | A Single Refill Bourbon Hogshead |
| Single Cask No. | REF - DL14290 |
| No. Of Bottles | 430 bottles |
| Distilled: | June 2008 |
| Bottled: | August 2020 |
| Age: | “12 Glorious Years Old” (as stated on the front label) |
| Non-Chill-Filtered: | Yes |
| Natural Colour: | Yes |
| Kashrus Issues: | None |
| Kosher Certification: | None |
* This particular Single
Cask bottling has sold out but there are other Single Casks available at The
Whisky Embassy in Herzliya or online from https://www.sipil.co.il/
An Introduction to Independent
Bottling
An Independent Whisky Bottler is a company that purchases casks of whisky directly from multiple distilleries, stores them in its own warehouse(s) and bottles them under their own company brand. There are various restrictions and rules that apply to Independent Bottlings such as the company’s brand name on the label must come before and be at least twice as large as the distillery name.
A distillery
called “La-Frog”?
Sometimes, (for
various reasons), the distillery’s owners will not allow the actual name of their
distillery from whence the cask came from, to be used. In that case, the
Independent Bottler will only be permitted to mention the region in Scotland
where the distillery is situated. For instance, “A Classic Speyside”, “A
Highlands Mountain Distillery” or “The Smoky Islay”.
However, some
Independent Bottlers are a bit cheeky and will make up some creative name that subtly
(or in some cases, not so subtly), hints at the distillery name. For example, there
are quite a few Independent Bottlings of Laphroaig out there but the owners don’t
often give permission to use the distillery name.
This might seem
to some to be a bit pointless as there are basically only two distilleries on
Islay that have a large enough production that they can afford to sell to
Independent Bottlers on a regular basis, namely Caol Ila and Laphroaig, and the
two whiskies have their own very unique flavour profiles and can be identified
in a blind taste without too much difficulty.
Some Independent
Bottlers try to mimic the famous white and Green Laphroaig artwork (just short
of getting into legal trouble). One particular bottler released a bottling of
Laphroaig which featured a cartoon of a French looking frog on the label,
calling it “La Frog”. Another cask of Laphroaig was bottled from an Independent
Bottle under the name “Bessie Single Malt from Islay” after Bessie Williamson,
the then owner and distillery manager at Laphroaig in the 1960s. So, those in
the know, knew that the liquid came from that legendary distillery on the
Kildalton coast.
The bottle I am
about to review is from Douglas Laing Independent Bottlers. The bottle is
labelled as “Probably Orkney’s Finest Distillery”. Again, for those in the
know, there are only two distilleries currently operating on the isle of Orkney,
namely “Highland Park” and “Scapa”, so that narrows it down a bit. (Actually,
there is a new Micro Malt Whisky Distillery now operating on the Orkney but the
chances of a cask coming from the tiny “Orkney Distillery” are pretty much
zero).
Now, putting on
our Sherlock Holmes’ deerstalker (hat), there might be a clue to the origins of
this whisky based on the fact that Highland Park almost entirely releases their
Single Malt which is (wholly or partially) matured in Ex-Sherry casks, whereas
Scapa uses exclusively Ex-Bourbon casks for their maturation.
This bottle of
Douglas Laing is indeed a Bourbon Hogshead. However, the real geeks out there will
look at that Cask Number “DL14290” and say to themselves, “That’s a Highland
Park Cask number”! Ahem. Case closed? Mystery solved? Perhaps, but perhaps not!
Read on…
The Big Attraction to Buying Whisky
from an Independent Bottler
There are in
fact a few good reasons for a whisky enthusiast, even one who is exclusively
loyal to one distillery or perhaps a particular Scottish region to buy an
Independent Bottle.
There are many distilleries
whose parent company imposes a policy whereby all their official bottlings
(OBs) are released at minimum legal 40% abv, chill filtered to an inch of its
life and artificially coloured with fake brown dye. In other words, they are
all dumbed down for the casual, uneducated (or just plain lazy), whisky
consumer.
Moreover, there
are a few distilleries such as Tamnavulin,
who only release their Single Malts with some kind of wine cask finish, be it STR,
sherry, port etc. These finishes tends to smother the baseline flavour of the spirit. So, normally we
would never actually get the opportunity to taste the “real” house-flavour style of that distillery,
matured in the more innate/neutral, “vanilla” flavour Bourbon Barrel. (Obviously, this
also has huge ramifications for the strictly kosher consumer who would never
buy an official bottling from these distilleries).
So, someone who
really wants to drink an Ex-Bourbon Cask matured Tamnavulin basically has two
choices:
1. They can
search the auction houses for an old bottle of Tamnavulin 12 from the late
1990s to early 2000s, matured exclusively in Ex-Bourbon barrels:
or...
2. They could buy a bottle of Tamnavulin Single Malt Whisky from an Independent Bottler.
Introducing:
Independent Bottlings
Being mostly
whisky enthusiasts themselves, Independent Bottlers will for the most part, bottle
their casks as “Integrity Bottlings”, that is, Natural Colour, Unchill-Filtered and at 46% abv or higher. (One exception to the rule is Gordon & MacPhail who
has shall we say, a slightly more “corporate” mindset than most other
Independent Bottlers and do in fact release a portion of their products watered
down to 43%).
Unlike official
bottlings which are almost always vattings of multiple casks, it’s quite common
for Independent Bottlers to produce “Single Cask” bottlings or at least Small Batch
(two or three casks), bottlings and at “Cask Strength”, that is, will bottle
the whisky straight from the cask without any further watering down.
With very few
exceptions, casks from Independent Bottlers are bottled as is. The casks aren’t
usually messed around with by re-racking into other type casks (i.e., “Finishes”)
so as to mask the original character of the whisky with a “top-coat” of wine
flavour. What you get instead with Independent Bottlings is the honest natural
house flavour of the distillery.
The Strictly
Kosher Consumer
As briefly touched upon above, there are many distilleries whose house style is to exclusively mature in Sherry Casks (Ben Nevis, Dalmore, Glendronach, Glenfarclas all come to mind), or they will bottle from a marriage of mostly Bourbon Barrel matured whisky with a good percentage of Sherry Casks (Ardnamurchan and Springbank “spring” to mind).
This means that Independent Bottlings can be a
great choice for the strictly kosher consumer as you can often find Malt Whisky
from these distilleries bottled from a cask type that is not problematic, kashrus
wise, such as a Rum, Virgin Oak, Bourbon Barrel or Hogshead.
Higher Ages
What if you have
ever dreamt of tasting a 20-Year-Old (or older), Single Malt Whisky from your
favourite distillery but cannot justify the incredibly high prices of the OBs?
Well, you’ll be happy to know that you can often find bottles with similar Age
Statements from Independent Bottlers for as little as half the price of the
OBs. Example, the Caol Ila 25 OB is around £250 whereas there is currently a Cadenhead’s
Caol Ila 25 from a single Hogshead selling for £125 a bottle.
Talking of Caol Ila, if you are a fan (as I am), it’s well worth searching out bottles of “Port Askaig” by Independent Bottler Elixir Distillers. Don't bother checking! There is no actual distillery by the name of Port Askaig but Caol Ila distillery just happens to be situated right outside that very port! (Aham). Port Askaig bottlings are really excellent and tend to be much cheaper than the equivalent OBs.
No Official
Bottlings or Closed Distilleries
There are many
distilleries where 100% of their output goes into Scotch Blended Whisky and
there are no regular official bottlings available at all! Your only choice then
is to look to independent bottlers for that rare bottle of Auchroisk,
Balmenach, Benrinnes, Dailuaine, Glenlossie, Glen Spey, Inchgower, Linkwood,
Mannochmore, Strathmill and Teaninich (I think I’ve mentioned them all?).
Likewise, there are Independent Bottlings of distilleries that have been sadly closed or mothballed, sometimes at half the price or even less than available OBs still on the shelves. (Actually, rather than shelves, it’s more likely that these bottles will be kept in glass cabinets under lock and key). Take for instance, an official Diageo bottling of Brora 25. This will set you back around £2,500, whereas the equivalent from an Independent Bottler like Signatory is around £1,200. (Yes, I am aware that Diageo resurrected Brora distillery in 2021, but it will be sometime yet before we see any new releases of this Islay style Clynelish).
What are the Downsides to Independent
Bottlings?
So far, I’ve
painted quite a rosy picture of Independent Bottlings, but there are in fact
some major drawbacks, especially for the less experienced whisky drinker when
it comes to purchasing these bottles so “buyers beware, buyers take care!”, as
Ralfy Mitchel often says.
First off, the
shear variety of independent bottlers might seem rather daunting at first. Moreover,
some of the labels and bottle shapes look really weird. Don’t let this put you
off.
Because these
are all “one of a kind” casks, quality will vary. You might buy a bottle of
“Glen Something” or other from an Independent Bottler and then buy another
bottle from a different cask, and it will be completely different. Some
enthusiasts see this as one of the wonderful things about Independent Bottlings.
That is, every cask is unique. Others, particularly newbies, find it frustrating
and perplexing, especially when not forewarned.
Past Its
Sale-By-Date
If truth be
told, there are some Independent Bottlers who (in my opinion), can release some
good quality whiskies and at other times some pretty awful stuff. A common
problem is that they might bottle something from say a Third-Fill cask (or even
order), that is frankly past its “sale-by-date” and should never have been used
to mature more spirit. They are what we call tired “Inactive” casks that have
been used to mature new-make-spirit too many times and no longer have any
capability of transferring flavour to the whisky. So even though, for instance,
that 20-Year-Old Age statement on the label might look very enticing, it will actually
taste more like a 5-Year-Old.
Sometimes the
casks are damaged or not stored correctly, causing the whisky to lose alcohol
to the air through excessive evaporation and oxidation. They will then be
forced to bottle the remaining whisky quickly before the cask drops below the
minimum legal 40% abv and cannot then be sold as whisky. Look out for bottles
with odd Age Statements like 29-Years and with ABVs as low as 40.2% or similar.
You have to ask yourself, why didn’t they wait until the whisky’s 30th
birthday? It’s a bit suspicious.
Some casks have unfortunately
been poorly made, maintained or kept in warehouses that do not have the best
conditions for maturating whisky. Results can be disastrous and you’ve just
wasted all that money on something that tastes like cold tea.
Conclusion
However, it
isn’t always “Hit or Miss”. There are some Independent Bottlers out there that,
in my opinion, can always (or almost always) be relied upon to release high
quality whisky which is either good or in some cases, amazing! These companies
include Signatory, Cárn Mór and “Single Malts of Scotland” – Elixir Distillers.
On the other end
of the scale (and I stress that this is just my personal experience which has
led to this opinion), I’ve been pretty disappointed and even had some real duds
from the likes of Cadenhead’s as well as Gordan & MacPhail. Just saying!
Most Independent
Bottlers however, fall into the middle group where most of their bottlings are
just OK with the occasional outstanding one. Examples being Berry Bros &
Rudd, Duncan Taylor and the subject of the following review, Douglas Laing.
Obviously, if
you find a bottle you really love, you’d better get your skates on and buy
another quick as bottles will disappear never to return again.
You always have
to ask yourself if you can afford to gamble your money on what could turn out
to be a real disappointment? On the other hand, it may just be the best
Benrinnes/Caol Ila/Laphroaig/Mortlach/Jura… you’ve ever tasted in your life. It
really is a bit like playing Battle Ships, except that Be’ezras Hashem,
your experience will be more hits than misses.
A Profile of Douglas Laing
Independent Bottler
There are
actually two Independent Bottlers by the name of “Laing”, namely “Hunter Laing”
and “Douglas Laing”.
Douglas Laing
& Co was originally established as a Whisky Blending business by Fred
Douglas Laing in Glasgow, Scotland in 1948 (which coincidently makes the
company the same age as the modern State of Israel). Fred successfully
established some of the most famous Scotch Blended Whisky brands of the 1950s
to 1980s.
Fred Laing Jnr. along
with his brother Stewart, inherited the company, from their father Fred in
1984. Soon after their father’s death, the brothers suffered a further calamity
by losing control of their father’s Scotch Blended Whisky brands to the then
whisky giant DCL (later to become Diageo), from what they described as “corporate
bullying” and “underhand” legal action.
Rather than
close their father’s company, in a bold move, the brothers decided to explore
the yet commercially untested, fledgling world of Blended Malts (vatting two or
more Malt Whiskies together), and Single Malt bottlings, using their existing
stocks of casks from various Malt Distilleries.
Sadly, just as
the company was experiencing rapid expansion and commercial success, the two
brothers decided to split the company assets and existing brands up in 2013,
sighting “professional differences”.
Fred Jnr. retained
the original company name of Douglas Laing & Co., and Stewart Laing
established his own Independent Bottling company under the very similar name of
Hunter Laing & Co.
Fred Jnr.
brought in his daughter, Cara Laing, to jointly run Douglas Laing & Co.
with him.
I can well
forgive those who commonly confuse releases by these two companies. Not only
because of the almost identical name but also due to their very similar use of
Victorian themed artwork and branding. The similarities don’t end there. Both
went on to acquire their own malt whisky distilleries.
In 2016, Hunter
Laing built from scratch, Ardnahoe distillery on Islay, situated on the road to
Bunnahabhain and a few miles away from Caol Ila distillery.
Then in 2019,
Douglas Laing purchased their own distillery, the newly established in 2013,
Strathearn distillery in Perthshire.
Both Hunter and
Douglas Laing’s packaging is unapologetically Victorian in style and grandiose.
However, if truth be told, I have to admit to being rather partial to a bit of
British Victorian Empire looking design.
So, I purchased
two bottles of Douglas Laing from their “Old Particular” series from “The
Whisky Embassy” (also online from Sipil.co.il), in Herzliya. The first was a
15-Year-Old Benrinnes and the second, this Orkney 12-Year-Old. Although the
Benrinnes was rather expensive, I’ve had some fantastic Benrinnes’ from
Signatory, so this one really caught my eye.
As regards the
12-Year-Old Orkney, I took this off the shelf because you can’t usually get OBs
of Highland Park matured in Ex-Bourbon and if it turned out to be Scapa, I just
love the old Scapa 12, 14 and 16-Year-Old bottlings from the 1990s and early 2000s.
So, I really didn’t care if turned out to be Highland Park or Scapa!
As mentioned
above, Douglas Laing bottlings can be a bit hit and miss (in my opinion). Case
in point, this Benrinnes 15-Year-Old was very disappointing. It was frankly bland
and totally forgettable.
Packaging And
Artwork
Douglas Laing
makes extensive use of Victorian themes throughout their entire range. This
includes character fonts, patterns, illustrations and series brand names.
I actually wrote an entire article giving my thoughts on Douglas Laing’s use of Victorian artwork design which included (for contrast), a profile of late 20th century "British Minimalism" design. However, it all started to become a bit too political in nature and too much of a divergence.
The gist of it
all though, was that in my opinion, seeing these over-the-top Victorian fonts, vibrant,
rich patterns and pictures drawn in this style, communicates a warm feeling of
nostalgia, of a national confidence and an elegance of a bygone age that (in my
opinion), seems sorely lacking in today’s Britain. There is a significant
percentage of British society who seem to hate British culture and are ashamed
of its history. (‘nuff said!)
Anyway, I saved everything into a separate Word file and perhaps someday, it will see the light of day.
At first, I wasn’t
at all sure that I liked this styling. Were they trying to make out that this
was whisky made in a Victorian style? As mentioned above, the company wasn’t
actually founded until 1948 so there doesn’t appear at first glance to be any
reason for the use of 19th century design. However, after a while, I
grew to love the use of these Victorian themes on their labels and canisters.
Transparency
of Information
Beyond the standard
statements required by law, Douglas Laing spoil us with loads of valuable information
for us whisky enthusiasts (geeks). This includes stating that No Colouring or
Chill-Filtration has been used, the number of bottles in the series, the Cask
Type (in this case, a single Refill Bourbon Hogshead), the Cask No. reference,
the distillation and bottling month and year (and if that wasn’t enough), a
prominently printed Age Statement. It doesn’t include the actual distillery
name but I’ll discuss this momentarily.
One last thing
about the package design. Being an Independent Bottler and producing thousands
of Single Cask bottlings, I just love the way that they have cleverly re-utilised
the same bottle label, sticking it both on the bottle and on the cardboard
tube, and simply varying the colour and of course details of the whisky. It’s
both economical and stylish.
Is This Really
Highland Park?
Despite the obvious
clue of the Cask No. being typical of Highland Park distillery, I’m still not
100% convinced that this bottle of “Probably Orkney’s Finest Distillery” spirit
is actually Highland Park liquid.
Why do I say
this? Because I have been enjoying the legendary Scapa 14-Year-Old and 16-Year-Old
for many-many years and have become very familiar with their unique full-bodied,
robust and intense honeysuckle heather-honey, barley field flavour profile.
Well, I have to say that this Douglas Laing 12-Year-Old tastes remarkably
similar to classic Ex-Bourbon Barrel Scapa.
Could it Actually
Be Scapa?
Unfortunately, since
the early 2000s, Scapa has suffered from frequent closures and a lack of creativity
from parent company Pernod Recard when it was announced that the 16-Year-Old would
be discontinued. Official Bottlings since then have been sporadic and made up entirely
of poorly put together 40% abv NAS releases.
Last year however (2024), it was announced that Scapa would be coming out with an exciting new series made up of three Integrity bottlings – the 10, 16 and 21-Years. All matured in Bourbon Casks (of course), and all bottled at a high 48% abv, Non-Chill-Filtered and Natural Colour. The series sounds like a wish come true for the many old Scapa 16 fans, but initial reviews have not been exactly fully positive. If they do decide to export them to Israel then I’ll probably buy the 10 or even 16-Year-Old to review. But, the question remains, could Douglas Laing have bought up some Scapa casks during these dormant years?
The Tasting Review
Appearance
A bright Chardonnay yellow. It appears to be full-bodied with a high oily viscosity.
A gentle swirl
of the liquid produces some impressive tears in the glass.
On The Nose
From the first
sniff, I knew that this whisky was something very special. It brought back
childhood memories of walking along the promenade at Southend-On-Sea. Aromas of sea breeze, freshly made doughnuts,
Toffee Apples and Toffee Honeycomb (also known as Cinder Toffee). I added a
teaspoon of water and let my imagination run wild. Like walking into a
Victorian Seaside confectionary shop with milk fudge cubes, Barley Sugar sweets
and Toffee-Honeycomb.
What is Sea-Side
Toffee Honeycomb (Cinder Toffee)?
This is one of
those whiskies that you can and should spend time with, simply breathe in this
golden spirit.
In a word, Intoxicating.
Soft coastal
heather and peat. Honeysuckle growing by the coast, fruity and floral scents,
heather honey and vanilla pods. Sweet Oaky flavours. Sweet Shortcake Butter
Biscuits. Apple Pie with honey and Treacle topping. Spices. Sweet Ginger,
cinnamon and glazed sugared walnuts
On The Palate
Putting the
liquid in your mouth, this Douglas Laing 12-Year-Old
gem of a whisky simply blew me away. You’ve heard of a “Peat Bomb” whisky?
You’ve heard of a “Sherry Bomb” whisky? Well, this is a massive “Flavour Bomb”
of a single malt.
Rich, bold
yellow fruits, Citrus Sherbet (a type of fizzy powder, containing sugar and
flavouring, and an edible fruity acid base), soft toffee and vanilla sponge
cake with slices of canned peaches on top, heather honey, creamy sweet barley
cereal, Buttered Toast with Apricot jam.
On the Finish
The flavour just
keeps going. It’s like the alcohol liquid equivalent of the mostly intense rich
sumptuous luscious scrumptious toffee ice cream.
Robustly robust,
mild peat, soft oaky spices, glazed walnuts, milky malted barley chewy cereal and
heather in the field, honey, with rich yellow and orange fruits.
Conclusions
Simply a work of
art. It is nothing short of superb. I can only describe it again as a massive “Flavour Bomb”
of a whisky! I’m quite certain that I haven't sampled a 12-Year-Old Single Malt
with quite so much complexity and body, ever before. The whole smelling and drinking experience is an absolute delight!
As I mentioned
above, this so much reminds me of the golden era of Scapa during the late 1990s
to early 2000s with the 14 and 16-Year-Old, only better.
Finally, I was
left with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, but it wasn’t from the whisky!
I left it a bit
too long before trying to order another bottle and you guessed it; they had already
run out. Looking on online stores in the UK, I see that it’s still possible to
get this exact Cask and there are also other bottles that look almost
identical, probably from sister casks, bought from the distillery at the same
time. In my opinion, if you live in the UK and love whisky, this or similar
should be on your shortlist, even if you have to pay a little over the odds for
it. It’s that good.
The Douglas Laing Old Particular “Probably Orkney’s Finest Distillery” 12-Year-Old Single Cask REF - DL14290, will go down on my personal list of “All Time Great” Single Malt whiskies I’ve ever tasted.
Fascinating and instructive, as well as beautifully written.
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