Douglas Laing was established in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing, specialising  in the selection and release of specialist, craft Scotch Whiskies.

Douglas Laing hand select the finest, and often rarest, Scotch Whisky stocks from across all of Scotland’s Whisky regions and bottle them under a handful of different categories ( XOP, Old Particular, Clan Deny and the Remarkable Malts range)  Bottled at high alcohol strength, and without colouring or chill-filtration.

The Rock Oyster range can be found within the Remarkable Malts range with a general release that boasts an impressive abv of 46.8%.

Todays review however is for the cask strength version which tops the abv scale at 56.1% and is of course natural coloured and NCF .. The whisky found within this blend is from the finest collection of maritime Malts including malt from the islands of Jura, Islay, Arran and Orkney amongst others..

Nose.. Soft smoke mingles with the faintest of medicinal notes, sea spray, apples, pear and orange peel, musty warehouses and damp soil..

Palate.. The smoke and peat are more intense with a soft fruity sweetness, still a little earthy with a spicy and salty side note.. The most dominant flavours are certainly the charred oak and pepper kick.

Finish.. Sweet smoke till the very end.

Thoughts..  A real interesting dram that needs a little time to explore, certainly one that will suit the peat lovers amongst you !

Douglas Laing also recommend this is rather tasty in the following cocktails..

 

ROCK OYSTER MARGARITA

Create the ultimate seaside serve with 5cl Rock Oyster Island Malt, 3.5cl premium tequila, 2.5cl lime juice, salt & a wedge of lime.

1. Fill a shaker with ice & add the Rock Oyster, tequila & lime juice.

2. Shake until cold.

3. Strain into glass with half the rim damped with water, then dipped in salt & add lime wedge garnish.

 

ROCK OYSTER BLOODY JOSEPH

You’ll have heard of a Bloody Mary, but what about a Bloody Joseph? In place of vodka, the Bloody Joseph is created with Rock Oyster Island Malt Scotch Whisky*, affording the cocktail a sweet and smoky kick. Just combine 5cl of Rock Oyster with a good quality tomato juice, a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of salt and as much hot sauce as you can handle.

*And with no booze at all, it can simply be called a “Bloody Shame”.

With thanks to Douglas Laing for this official sample of Rock Oyster cask strength batch 2.