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1257 Kensington Road NW
1 (403) 283-8000 / atyourservice@kensingtonwinemarket.com
$69.99
The Scarabus was featured on Day 8 of our 2021 KWM Whisky Calendar
Scarabus is a new single malt from Hunter Laing, the owners of the new Ardnahoe Distillery. The whisky is sourced from an undisclosed Islay distillery, as it will be years until Ardnahoe's whisky comes of age. Launched in May on Islay at Feis Isle 2019. The name of the whisky can be traced back to the 13th century, and means "A rocky place" in Norse. Bottled at 46% without colouring or chill-filtering. Tastes like peated Bunnahabhain.
700ml ml
OUT OF STOCK
If you'd like us to try to order it, add it to your cart. We can't promise, but we'll do our best!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: malty with leather and dried dark fruits; earthy, a touch rubbery, reminiscent of some Jamaican rums; ashy peat, and salty maritime smoke; juicy orange and Winegums.
Palate: ashy, tarry and earthy with more chewy malt; juicy orange and more Winegums; spicy with building muddy peat and fennel; still leathery with a touch of dried fruits; leather and tobacco.
Finish: long, tarry and spicy with more malt, citrus and wine gums; late leather and tobacco.
Comment: not mind-blowingly complex, but it is young and feisty , and it does the trick; likely from the northeastern most corner of Islay, rather than near the port...
Evan’s Tasting Note
Nose: Salt and pepper battered seafood at a Chinese food restaurant, freshly fulled apart grapefruit or pomelo, oatmeal with apples sliced in, bacon cooking in a cast-iron frying pan, a slight touch of elderflower, and dried seaweed snacks.
Palate: Wonderful combination of creamy and ashy on the tongue with notes of salt and vinegar potato chips, sweet grilled scallops and prawns, Apple Jacks cereal, grapefruit pith, and a lemon ginger tea with honey.
Finish: Peat and sweet mingle nicely with the mouth-watering salt and pepper notes.
Comment: If you are a fan of peat this shows remarkable balance. While having bolt salt and peat notes it still manages to show a delicate side as well.
Originally written by Evan for a blog post relating to KWM's 2020 Whisky Calendar.
Bunnahabhain Distillery is the northernmost distillery on Islay – it lays off the beaten path and is somewhat remote even when compared to the rest of the island. The distillery was actually only reachable by boat until the 1960s, when a road was finally built to it. Bunnahabhain is one of a trio of Scottish Single Malt Distilleries owned by Burn Stewart (Distell Group).
Burn Stewart and its parent company also own Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull which we discussed on both on Day Four and Day Seventeen. and Deanston Distillery which resides on the Scottish mainland in Perthshire. Like its siblings, most of the flagship single malts Bunnahabhain range are bottled unchill-filtered and with no added colouring at the curious but commendable strength of 46.3% ABV.
Like many Scottish distilleries, Bunnahabhain is a Gaelic name. It translates to "the foot of the river".
This Islay distillery was founded in 1881 and started its life making the heavily peated whisky that the region is famous for. For most of its history its whisky was exclusively used in blends such as Black Bottle, and even today only a fraction of its production is bottled as a single malt. In 1963 production was increased and at the same time the distillery’s style was changed to the lighter, unpeated single malt whisky it is known for today. Since 1997 there have been small amounts of heavily peated (35 PPM malt spec) single malt made each year but it is not what the distillery is known for.
The core of Bunnahabhain’s production and lineup doesn’t show very noticeable peat if it shows at all as they use a malt spec with a maximum phenolic level of 2 PPM. This makes it one of the more gently peated Islay single malts available. The distillery and its whisky are sometimes referred to as the ‘Gentle Giant of Islay’ What it lacks in smoke and peat it typically makes up for in nuanced and complex character and plenty of sherry cask influence, at least in official bottlings.
Yes, these are two separate companies, but it is difficult to talk about one without talking about the other. So, let's kill two birds with one stone, shall we? - Evan
The Hatfields & McCoys. The Montagues and Capulets. The Laings and... The Laings?
History is full of family feuds. It is also full of long-running game shows promoting the vicious rivalry. Sometimes, though, a family doesn't need to have an outside influence to struggle against because the issue lies within.
The History
Douglas Laing is an independent bottler that was founded in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing after he acquired the rights to the King Of Scots Blend. Fred Sr. and his wife had two sons. Stewart Hunter Laing was born in 1946. Fred Hamilton Laing (Fred Jr.) was born in 1950. Both brothers eventually joined Fred Sr. working at Douglas Laing. Before that though, they both had apprenticeships at other Scotch Whisky companies; something that seems to be a hallmark of families who make Scotch Whisky their trade.
Stewart Laing joined his father Fred Sr. at Douglas Laing in 1967. He had previously apprenticed at Bruichladdich Distillery and other places within the industry. Stewart and his wife had their first son, Scott, in 1979. A few years later in 1982, their second son Andrew was born.
Fred Laing Jr's first apprenticeship was at Whyte and Mackay starting in 1968, where he learned all parts of whisky production and business, including the art of blending. From there he moved to White Horse Distillers in 1969 to further enhance his blending knowledge. In 1972, he officially joined his Father, Fred Sr., at the family business of Douglas Laing. In 1982, Fred Jr's daughter Cara was born.
Fred Sr., AKA Fred Douglas Laing; the founder of Douglas Laing & Co, passed away in 1984. It was then up to his sons to run the company on their own.
Splitting The Family Company
Brothers' Stewart and Fred Jr. quietly – or not so quietly – didn’t really get along. This eventually led the two to go their separate ways in 2013. Stewart Laing took with him some brands created at his former company such as Old Malt Cask and Old & Rare. Fred Laing Jr. kept the Douglas Laing and brands such as Big Peat, Old Particular, and of course, the exclusive rights to his fabulous moustache.
Fred Laing Jr. & daughter Cara Laing - the new Douglas Laing
Douglas Laing continued on, operating under Fred Jr's stewardship to this day. They have created some new labels since, focusing more on the Blends and Blended Malt side of things than Hunter Laing typically does. Fred Laing was joined by his daughter Cara at about the same time as the split.
Douglas Laing does bottle single casks of whisky under the Provenance, Old Particular and XOP labels. However, with Fred Jr's knowledge in blending and the brand King of Scots still in hand, the company has kept a big focus on blending, introducing an entire line of regional blended malts over the late 2010s. The company has dubbed this lineup The Remarkable Regional Malts of Scotland. These include:
The Douglas Laing company announced the acquisition of its first distillery in October 2019. The Strathearn Distillery, founded in 2013, is located near Methven in Perthshire. Technically located in the Southern Highlands, it is near the lowlands region and about an hour and a half drive from Douglas Laing's headquarters in Glasgow.
Stewart Laing & sons Scott and Andrew Laing form Hunter Laing
Hunter Laing was founded in 2013 by chairman Stewart Hunter Laing and his sons Andrew and Scott. Hunter Laing came to being from a dividing of assets owned by the company Douglas Laing & Co, which Stewart and his brother Fred Laing Jr. had operated together since Fred Laing Sr. – their father passed away in 1984.
The new company has more of a focus on Single Malt Whisky and often single casks than Douglas Laing, with new releases under Old Malt Cask, Old & Rare, Sovereign, The First Editions, and Hepburn's Choice hitting store shelves periodically. Regular releases as well as the mystery peated Islay Single Malt under the name Scarabus are also consistently available. Oh, and Hunter Laing also bottles rum under the wonderfully silly moniker Kill Devil.
Three years after the split, in 2016, Hunter Laing announced plans to build a distillery on Islay. The company’s Ardnahoe Distillery officially opened in 2019. The first Single Malt whisky releases from Ardnahoe hit shelves in 2024.
It is now more than a decade since Stewart and Fred Laing split the business and their progeny joined them in earnest. The brothers and their respective companies of Hunter Laing and Douglas Laing still show much of the whisky DNA that their father built into it, and them.
$79.99
It is back and exclusive to KWM in Calgary again, bottled at 58%. The Ileach Cask Strength is a mystery malt from Islay. In other words, the distillery of origin is a mystery but, look closely at the label, and you'll see a couple of clues: the distillery has its own bay, presumably passable on only the one side; it's water-front has a distinct appearance; and could that be the ruins of the Dunyvaig Castle on the far right? Lagging behind and not understanding our not-so-subtle hints on which distillery this could be? Fear not - this is what makes Mystery Malts so much fun.
$79.99
Believed to be Caol Ila, the whisky is bottled at a cask strength of 58%. Finlaggan is an Islay mystery malt named for the most historically significant site on Islay. Loch (lake) Finlaggan--named after St. Findulgan who is believed to have brought Christianity to Islay--and its islands were the political and social capital of the Lord's of the Isles, who ruled the Western Isles of Scotland for over 400 years. Finlaggan Cask Strength is put together by the Vintage Malt Whisky Company, whom are also responsible for the Cooper's Choice and Ileach lineup. It is bottled at a batch strength of 58% ABV.
$74.99
* This bottle was featured on Day 4 of our 2020 KWM Whisky Calendar, much to Evan's delight.
Bottled at 46.3% ABV, the Ledaig 10-year-old is the flagship heavily-peated release from Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull.
$86.99
It's the same as the regular Scarabus Islay Single Malt... but at 57%, it is punchier.
Producer Description
"Scarabus, an Islay Single Malt for those with a curious mind and an eye for detail. A whisky bold and honest about its origins and just a little mysterious about everything else. The brand creates a sense of mystery and discovery through the tagline “only those who seek shall find” and through the intentionally ambiguous symbols incorporated on the label. The look and feel drew inspiration from the work of Islay born John Francis Campbell, who created the sunshine recorder, a device that tallies the hours of sunshine in a day, as well as creating a vast collection of Celtic folklore tales. Scarabus is known as a mystical area on the Isle of Islay, and the name dates back to 13th century, and translates to “a rocky place” in Old Norse."
