.laphroaig - 14yo - feis ile 2015 - douglas laing - old particular

Feis Ile 2015 was great, we were there for for some of the events, but as these things go; you can't have 'em all, and the busy schedule of our friends from Douglas Laing completely missed ours. We did however receive a sample of their first annual Feis Ile bottling...

48.4% abv, €150
single malt, non-chill filtered, natural colour

Nose: ash, smoke, burning meat, sweet, liquorice root, fresh eucalyptus leaves, floral, heather, hints of lavender - a 'dry' glass reveals seawater and cereals - beautiful

Palate: spicy, black pepper, sweet, honey, creamy, eucalyptus, smoke, red berries,blackberries,citrus, lemon peel

Finish: long, smoke, ash, sweet, honeycomb, fruit, cherries, blackberries, more eucalyptus freshness, hints of salt, citrus, tangy zest
Mark: ++++/+

Conclusion: Yeah... I'm there again. Lovely place, great whisky, and the Lads and Lassies of Douglas Laing have completely understood this was the right thing to bottle for a Feis.

More info: distilled in January 2001, matured in refill butt #DL 10694, bottled in February 2015 into 636 bottles

.girvan - 25yo - old particular

Douglas Laing, one of the well known independent bottlers, have an Old Particular range, where they present single casks of whisky that has reached a certain age at cask strength, which includes single grains...

.strathclyde - 27yo - old particular

Strathclyde. A whisky many have never heard of, but most will probably have had some blended in a whisky of the Pernod Ricard range. Now, Douglas Laing have released a range of single grain bottlings, that include one of this distillery, which produces about 40 million litres of spirit per year - most of which disappears in said blended whiskies.

.cameronbridge - 25 yo - old particular - douglas laing

With the recent up-rise of single grain whiskies, Douglas Laing added some fine specimens to their Old Particular range. It appears to be my very first Cameron Bridge I have ever made a note of...

.north british 21yo - old particular #10797

50.9% abv, €100, single grain, non-chill filtered, natural colour

Nose: sweet, powdered sugar, fruit, pears, lichee

Palate: spicy, herbal, cinnamon, cloves, fruit, lichee, green herbs, marjoram

Finish: a hint of bitter orange zest, sweet, fruity, pears, lichee, medium long
Mark: ++/+++ 

Conclusion: I think I never tasted lichee as a note before, but now that I have found it, it is probably hard to get of for future grains. Fun.

Whisky wise, this is not exactly my cup-of-whisky; she lacks an "oumpfh" a grain can have. I think she could have profited of a longer maturation time.

Only 294 bottles have been filled from this refill hogshead.

Many thanks to Douglas Laing for supplying us with this sample