Douglas Laing Trio

While I drown in corn syrup, vanilla, caramel and oak splinters it's time to draw on the tasting notebook to happier times when I was surrounded by whisky of superior quality and as luck would have it, right at my finger tips.

With rising prices very much being a topic of discussion for a few years now, drams that offered quality and value were very much at the forefront of many whisky enthusiasts thoughts. Of course being the '#whiskyfabric' there were still a vast army of commentators out there who would say nice things about anything just to get a freebie. Of course that isn't how things work here at Causeway Towers. Instead I paid my money and gave my opinions which is why free things rarely ever came my way.

But quality and value has always played its role in my thinking when critiquing whisky whether it's been on this channel, Malt or Dramface. In fact the greatest thing about Malt in its heyday was that devil may care attitude and knowing that no one on the team could be bought to say pleasant things.....until that concept got thrown out the window and Malt disintegrated.

It's also why I've stuck to going it alone to a large extent since Malt even though my readership pales into insignificance compared to the behemoth that was Malt and currently, probably is Dramface.

If you read my stuff then I'd like to point you to other sources I think buck the trend and also provide heartfelt and industry unbiased opinions. First of course is Whisky Rover, the only other person to have contributed to this site and someone who I count not only as a friend but also as a reviewing mentor even if we don't always agree on certain reviews or topics.

Confined mainly to instagram these days and caught up with his Glen Mhor project plus offering profit free tastings through Dunfermline Whisky, Jason's reviews, though sometimes acerbic are always unbiased, thoughtful and generally lead to bottles selling out when he recommends them.

Next up is Whiskybase. Not one man's thoughts but rather a kaleidoscope collective of whisky enthusiasts from around the world giving a handy aggregated score based on the 100 point scale.....you'll find pretty much every whisky on here....and if there isn't a tasting note or score already....add your own!

Brian's Malt Musings is another website I read from time to time with the Blind Tasting section an especially enjoyable side to the site. Always detailed and in depth it's a site worthy of your time.

The Water of Life is another site I read pretty regularly. Its founder Dave and I don't always see eye to eye score wise but we often cover similar drams and the different outlook always gives me food for thought. Plus Dave is a very generous soul and we often swapped samples to facilitate our reviews. It was great to finally meet him in person too at Echlinville's single malt and pot still launch event in May of this year.

Right, enough brown nosing....let's get onto the whisky shall we?

Douglas Laing & Co are independent bottlers based in Glasgow, Scotland and were established in 1948. The company has a range of brands such as Old Particular, Provenance and Xtra Old Particular. They also have their 'Remarkable Regional Malts' range which includes the three drams we're looking at today.

First up is the Timorous Beastie 10 year old. The Timorous Beastie range is a marriage of aged and selected Highland malts from distilleries such as Glen Garioch, Dalmore and Glengoyne. Like all the whiskies on offer today it's non chill filtered, natural colour and bottled at 46.8% abv. It cost £34.95 from Master of Malt.

Second on the list is the Scallywag 10 year old Sherry Edition. The Scallywag takes malts from the Speyside region and includes distilleries such as Glenrothes, Macallan and Mortlach. The 10 year old is fully matured in Oloroso and Pedro Ximinez sherry casks. This cost £39.12 from Master of Malt.

Finally we have the Rock Island 10 year old (formerly known as Rock Oyster) which uses malts from the islands of Arran, Islay, Jura and Orkney amongst others to form the blend. As the name suggests the 10 year old offers these malts with an age of at least 10 years old going into the blend. This cost £38.12 from Master of Malt.

Let's taste.

Timorous Beastie 10 year old 46.8% abv

Nose: A gentle fruity nose with an icing sugar sweetness. Orchard fruit of apples and pears along with vanilla. Toasted almond, light oak and caramel. A light banana note plus some waxiness.

Palate: Quite a bit of tongue burn on arrival from this. We are past the burn by sip three. A creamy mouthfeel and an immediate sweetness of vanilla and refined white sugar, dessert wine poached pears and apples. A swell of ginger an
d pepper now before turning to sour apple and waxed paper.

Finish: Short with heat lingering from the ginger and pepper plus tart lemon slices.

Score: 4 out of 10

 

Scallywag 10 year old Sherry Edition 46% abv

Nose: A really sweet nose – brown sugar, candied almonds, candy floss and ripe banana. Cooked apples, peach and a healthy does of vanilla. A light cappuccino note along with baking spices and fresh oak.

Palate: Another sweet arrival. Runny honey, stewed orchard fruit with clove and cinnamon. A hint of raspberry. Milky coffees, milk chocolate, dark dried fruit and a dash of pepper.

Finish: A medium length with lingering spice, cocoa and honeyed malt.

Score: 6 out of 10

Rock Island 10 year old 46% abv

Nose: Sea salt & brine, smoked lemons over a bbq, barley, vanilla and soft wood smoke. Unripe banana plus freshly grated ginger. A hint of pineapple in the background too.

Palate: Very soft and approachable. Malt forward with honey and vanilla followed quickly by chalk and brine. Mild heathery peat smoke and pink peppercorns.

Finish: relatively short with citrus, mild smoke and a light minerality.

Score: 5 out of 10

 

Overall: Two decent drams and one to avoid sadly. The Timorous Beastie wasn’t that timorous as it turned out. It had a pretty hot arrival and that heat carried right through the experience which for me was just a little unpleasant and dominated the tasting. Even water couldn’t really redeem it.

The Scallywag Sherry Edition isn’t an out and out sherry bomb in the vein of an Abunadh or Glendronach but they have definitely used very active sherry casks. As such it is definitely on the sweeter side and so those looking for an affordable dessert dram this could be very much up your street. It actually reminded me a little of the McConnell’s Sherry cask finish.

The Rock Island is actually a decent entry way to the wonderful world of peat. It’s not complex but it’s approachable, it doesn’t give you a peat punch from an iron fist and has just the right amount of salty minerality. Simple and easy to drink and there’s nothing wrong with that.

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