Douglas Laing Arran 8yo

The Maker

Douglas Laing was established in 1948 on the back of the post Second World War whisky boom. At the time the story goes that Fred Douglas Laing (presumably Fred wasn't considered a sufficiently whiskish name) launched the business with a few casks and the rights to use the name of then well known blended scotch King of Scots.

Over the decades since the company has passed to his son, Fred Jr, and built its reputation off the back of a wide range of trademarked blends and single malts - such as the famed 'Remarkable Regional Malts' range. Apparently the aim with single malts is to focus on 'providence' (hence the name of one of their core ranges), where whisky is always presented as close as possible to how the distiller wanted it. In other words there is a limited focus on exotic cask maturations which go through their cycles of popularity.

But it is those blends where the company seems to put a lot of its focus with famous names under their management including Big Peat; Scallywag; Timorous Beastie; Rock Island; The Epicurean, and; The Gauldrons. I suspect that most readers would have had the good fortune to try several of those over the years.

As with all well established independent bottlers it's hard to say a great deal unique or interesting about them given that buying, maturing, and selling good whisky is the aim of them all. And like most well established IBs, Douglas Laing recently purchased its own distillery - Strathearn in the Highlands - which has been producing its own whisky since 2017 with a reported 96 hour fermentation period.

Yet despite following this established trend Douglas Laing remains a family run business with the third generation (Cara Laing) entering the company in 2013 and currently serving as Managing Director. All of which suggests a secure company that will be with us (hopefully) for many decades to come.

The Expression

Among the whisky geeks of the internet Arran is frequently listed as a favourite distillery. Why is simple. Arran has fostered a reputation for producing high quality whisky, at a fair price. Fans really can’t ask for anything more than that, and it's hard to think of a time in recent years where Arran hasn’t delivered.

Yet getting to this position hasn’t been an easy journey. Arran was established by former Chivas director Harold Currie in the mid-1990s at the most northern point of Arran in a village called Lochranza close to the Campbeltown ferry terminal. This wasn't an easy period in whisky history, so was a considerable gamble compared to the many new distilleries we see popping up today.

So small was the site that for many years the distillery had to depend on Springbank for cask storage. Given the growing success over the years I can’t help but wonder at what additional expertise the Springbank team offered in addition to storage space? After all they do seem to be very ideologically aligned. This shows itself in the very similar approaches they take. Such as trying to do as much of the production on site as possible, using local ingredients where they can, and installing traditional wooden washbacks, copper stills and dunnage warehouses.

The drawback of this approach is that it took Arran a rather long time to start making money - with the first profit turned as late as 2010. This isn’t uncommon given the initial cost of construction and maturation meaning that it can be the best part of a decade before any significant income is returned. These days it’s common to turn out some alternative gin or vodka products to make up the shortfall, but from what I can establish Arran came along a few years before this was standard practice. It did however eventually achieve the same thing by producing a Cream Liqueur since 2004 which I’m told serves as a pleasant alternative to Baileys. But I have to confess the notion of such liqueurs has always turned my stomach so I'll stick to their whisky!

The early 2000s was a pivotal period in Arran’s short history. It marked Harold Currie exit from the business and the remaining shareholders taking control under the direction of Euan Mitchell, again of Springbank stock.  From this point on the Arran story has been one of success built upon success.

The core of this success has remained the high quality whisky which fans love so much. By the 2010s the core range was expanding to include a much missed 14yo (which is apparently returning in some form in the near future), and also the launch of a peated Machrie Moor range which has served as the prototype for the spin off Lagg distillery on the southern tip of Arran that has only just started to release it's own core range.

This independent bottling from Douglas Laing serves as a natural comparator to the famed core 10yo reviewed previously. Like that core release this is 100% ex-bourbon. It's released at 46%. It's all natural presentation. The only real difference is that this is just eight years old, having been distilled in December 2014 and bottled in December 2022.

The Neck Pour

Simple ex-bourbon flavours on the nose. Lots of straw, plenty of vanilla. A good hit of clotted cream. Beyond that there's a touch of salted caramel and even a bit of elderflower. Yes it's very Arran, but there's a but more going on here than the standard 10yo.

This nose follows consistently onto the palate. This is also where those clotted cream notes convert into an oily texture which is much more present than something from the core range. Yet that said, at the moment, this is following that classic Arran profile in that there is nothing ground-breaking here. But what is here is very good. It's classic flavours, well put together, and well delivered.

The Body

With the benefit of a month or so on the shelf this bottle has opened up a bit and is starting to deliver something more. Now I'm getting a bit more green apple joining those floral elderflower notes, and also a hefty hit of cider vinegar as the citrus exerts itself.

On the palate this is followed by a big dose of honey and bees wax. And even more citrus. This isn't a fruit based citrus however, it's sticking to that vinegar like sharpness without the wider sugars.

In short it's still very nice. It's simple, yet effective. Again very Arran.

Final Thoughts

As the bottle comes to the end that citrus is just getting stronger. But it's bringing with it those initial vanilla notes to lock in that fresh sweetness. Nothing here is going to shock anyone. But equally I doubt many will dislike it. The question for me is whether this is a suitable step up from the core range Arran 10?

Having reviewed the core Arran 10 a few months ago I'd suggest that there is more to be had from this release. That isn't said to criticise the core release, which remains a great entry level whisky. But there's more interest to be had from this single cask release. Yes it may be slightly younger, and £5 more expensive. Yet for me it's more than worth it to try something before it's gone.