Glen Moray 10 Year Old – Douglas Laing

Douglas Laing

Douglas Laing for those of you who don’t know are a Glasgow based independent bottler who pride themselves in bottling some of Scotland’s finest single malts, not to mention some Remarkable blended malts, blended whisky and single grains..

Initially founded in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing after serving his time in the Royal Air Force during world war 2, Fred D Laing then set up a cask filling programme with many of the distilleries throughout Scotland..

Modern times demanded a new approach and his two son’s Fred and Stewart have divided up the business and Fred now controls the Douglas Laing name for which expression are released under names like Provenance, Old Particular and the flag ship XOP ( Xtra Old Particular ) These labels offer up single cask expressions, cask strength and all natural products with no chill filtration..

Born in 1950 Fred now runs the company with Daughter Cara who herself has whisky running through her veins.. Between them both the company is going from strength to strength and continues to work closely with Scotland’s finest distilleries in order to carry on the tradition Fred’s father implemented so many years ago.

The company as mentioned also bottle what they aptly named The Remarkable Regional Malts which are a core range of Blended single malts from the particular regions, representing the Lowlands we have The Epicurean, Speyside is proudly represented by Scallywag, The highlands has Timorous Beastie, the Islands has Rock Islands while Campbeltown  has The Gauldrons  and lastly but certainly not the least known is Islay who has the pleasure of Big Peat to represent the Island..

The Old Particular releases are all single casks from the various regions, all bottled at cask strength and without colouring which brings me onto todays review..

10 Year old Glen Moray – Single Cask – 2008

Distillery.. Glen Moray

Region.. Speyside

Age.. 10 years

Vintage.. 2008

Distilled.. November 2008

Bottled.. November 2018

Abv.. 66.7%

Cask.. Sherry Puncheon #12985

Bottler.. Douglas Laing

Outturn.. 596 Bottles

Nose.. There is an instant hit of Chocolate with fresh orange as well as orange rind, toffee apples and a stupendous amount of dried fruits.. Sticky toffee pudding with a rich vanilla sauce aroma entices you closer while an old leather armchair, dusty books and dunnage warehouse scents give this an incredibly appealing aroma that draws you in.

Palate.. An onslaught of dried fruits, fresh summer berries, plums freshly picked from the tree, black forest gateau, waffles covered in maple syrup and a tough of old leather, dried tobacco leaf and a subtle chocolate orange note.

Finish.. The oak arrives with lingering spices

Thoughts… Did you happen to notice the Abv !! This is a sherry bomb with attitude..

There are two things to consider here.. This is Glen Moray and its from Douglas Laing..

Firstly Glen Moray.. I don’t hide the fact i like Glen Moray, they produce whisky that is extremely good value and tastes exceptional.. The quality has been good for a long time with some great cask selection and good spirit to fill them, a pride from the team that is always evident in the liquid and a philosophy of making whisky that is both quality and good value will never hurt anyone !!

Secondly Douglas Laing.. I think in all the time i have bought whisky from these guys i have only had one bottle i wasn’t overly keen on, not their fault but just a bottle that didn’t suit my palate, it happens you know..  This bottle however hit the spot instantly and although i had purchased this a fair while ago a good friend was bottle sitting it and so it has taken a little longer to actually review this whisky and unfortunately it is now sold out..

 

With Thanks to Alastair for bottle sitting..