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1257 Kensington Road NW
1 (403) 283-8000 / atyourservice@kensingtonwinemarket.com
$221.99
This 25th Anniversary Old Malt Cask bottling of Speyburn was distilled in 2005, and bottled after 17 years at 50% after maturing in an Oloroso Sherry Butt. Exclusive to KWM!
About the Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary Range
“The flagship Old Malt Cask series was launched in 1998 and quickly became known amongst connoisseurs as an umbrella for whiskies of the highest quality. Twenty five years later we continue to offer the finest casks from our family cellars under the Old Malt Cask brand, still bottled at 50% alcohol and of course without artificial colouring or chill-filtration. To celebrate a quarter of a century of Old Malt Cask single malts we have selected twenty five expressions to be bottled in the brand’s original, iconic, green and gold presentation. These Twenty Fifth Anniversary releases are drawn from across Scotland’s signature whisky producing regions and reflect the varied selection of Malts which have appeared under the Old Malt Cask banner. As ever with the Old Malt Cask range we offer them to you with confidence and pride.”
700 ml
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Apricot, milk chocolate, vanilla, caramel sauce.
Palate: Nutmeg, fruit salad drizzled with pineapple sauce.
Finish: Gentle oak spice, lime with a hint of ginger.
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.
Speyburn is not exactly the distillery that is on the tip of every single malt lover’s tongue. Perhaps that is slowly changing, though. I know the owners of Speyburn would like it to have more of an impact and are making a bigger push than they have in the past to showcase what this brand is capable of.
While it may be a bit of an unknown to many of us, Speyburn apparently sells as much single malt globally as Glengoyne and GlenDronach. Neither of those two brands is massive by any means, but they are well-known by many lovers of Single Malt Scotch.
The distillery is in a bit of a tough spot when it comes to being noticed, you see. Speyburn is owned by Inverhouse Distillers/Thai Beverages. Owned by this same company are the more famed Old Pulteney and well-respected Knockdhu (bottled as AnCnoc) and Balblair. Though Speyburn is capable of producing more spirit annually than any two of these distilleries combined, each of the other brands in the Inverhouse single malt portfolio has more cache with whisky geeks.
The recently revamped Speyburn core range of Single Malt is worth giving a try when you can. The range begins with the no-age-statement Braden Orach. We will be tasting the 10 Year today, but there are also 15 and 18-year-old expressions – both of which lean more into sherry cask influence in comparison. Beyond those, there is a 25-year-old as well.
Speyburn Distillery dates back to 1897 when it was founded by a family that also happened to own Tobermory Distillery at the time. Speyburn was a modern distillery at the time of its inception and was designed by famous architect Charles Doig.
Another thing that made it modern was a new version of malting the barley. Instead of using the tried and true floor maltings, Speyburn Distillery was the first to employ a newfangled technology for this process called drum malting. Drum maltings use a large cylinder (or drum) to rotate the barley during the malting process, which allowed the temperature and tilling/separation of the germinating barley to be machine-controlled. The result was the need for far less space to be taken up by the malt floor, fewer employees needed to monitor and turn the barley, and greater speed and consistency of the entire process. These drums were used at Speyburn for 70 years before their retirement. The equipment is still available to be seen, protected by Historic Scotland.
$234.99
This 19 year old Benrinnes is from a Canasta Cream Sherry Cask, bottled at 50% as part of the Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary Range. Exclusive to KWM
About the Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary Range
“The flagship Old Malt Cask series was launched in 1998 and quickly became known amongst connoisseurs as an umbrella for whiskies of the highest quality. Twenty five years later we continue to offer the finest casks from our family cellars under the Old Malt Cask brand, still bottled at 50% alcohol and of course without artificial colouring or chill-filtration. To celebrate a quarter of a century of Old Malt Cask single malts we have selected twenty five expressions to be bottled in the brand’s original, iconic, green and gold presentation. These Twenty Fifth Anniversary releases are drawn from across Scotland’s signature whisky producing regions and reflect the varied selection of Malts which have appeared under the Old Malt Cask banner. As ever with the Old Malt Cask range we offer them to you with confidence and pride.”
$234.99
Distilled in 2008, this 18 year old Blair Athol was bottled from an ex-Wine Hoghead at 50% as part of the Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary Range.
About the Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary Range
“The flagship Old Malt Cask series was launched in 1998 and quickly became known amongst connoisseurs as an umbrella for whiskies of the highest quality. Twenty five years later we continue to offer the finest casks from our family cellars under the Old Malt Cask brand, still bottled at 50% alcohol and of course without artificial colouring or chill-filtration. To celebrate a quarter of a century of Old Malt Cask single malts we have selected twenty five expressions to be bottled in the brand’s original, iconic, green and gold presentation. These Twenty Fifth Anniversary releases are drawn from across Scotland’s signature whisky producing regions and reflect the varied selection of Malts which have appeared under the Old Malt Cask banner. As ever with the Old Malt Cask range we offer them to you with confidence and pride.”
$189.99
THis 2008 vintage Inchgower is part of the Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary range, bottled at 50% and 15 years of age from a single Sherry Butt.
About the Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary Range
“The flagship Old Malt Cask series was launched in 1998 and quickly became known amongst connoisseurs as an umbrella for whiskies of the highest quality. Twenty five years later we continue to offer the finest casks from our family cellars under the Old Malt Cask brand, still bottled at 50% alcohol and of course without artificial colouring or chill-filtration. To celebrate a quarter of a century of Old Malt Cask single malts we have selected twenty five expressions to be bottled in the brand’s original, iconic, green and gold presentation. These Twenty Fifth Anniversary releases are drawn from across Scotland’s signature whisky producing regions and reflect the varied selection of Malts which have appeared under the Old Malt Cask banner. As ever with the Old Malt Cask range we offer them to you with confidence and pride.”
$164.99
Bottled at 50% and 13 years of age from a Canasta Cream Sherry Cask. This whisky was bottled as a part of the 25th Anniversary Range for Old Malt Cask.
About the Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary Range
“The flagship Old Malt Cask series was launched in 1998 and quickly became known amongst connoisseurs as an umbrella for whiskies of the highest quality. Twenty five years later we continue to offer the finest casks from our family cellars under the Old Malt Cask brand, still bottled at 50% alcohol and of course without artificial colouring or chill-filtration. To celebrate a quarter of a century of Old Malt Cask single malts we have selected twenty five expressions to be bottled in the brand’s original, iconic, green and gold presentation. These Twenty Fifth Anniversary releases are drawn from across Scotland’s signature whisky producing regions and reflect the varied selection of Malts which have appeared under the Old Malt Cask banner. As ever with the Old Malt Cask range we offer them to you with confidence and pride.”
