DOUGLAS LAING REVEALS NEW CHINESE NEW YEAR BOTTLINGS FOR 2024’S YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Independent Scotch Whisky distillers, blenders, and bottlers, Douglas Laing & Co reveal new Limited Releases today from their Island Malt Rock Island and their Exceptional Single Cask range.

In commemoration of the Chinese Year of the Dragon, namely the Wood Dragon in 2024, a Cask Strength edition of Rock Island, finished in fiercely charred ‘Crocodile Casks’ is announced.

Emma Reid, Rock Island’s Brand Manager commented:

“The Rock Island brand showcases the finest qualities of our most celebrated whisky-producing islands. The intricate flavors found across Scotland’s islands are unparalleled, marrying seamlessly to craft a subtly peated style that is accessible and enjoyable for both novices and connoisseurs alike. This edition celebrates charring – the process when casks are met with a flame to open the grain of the wood, therefore enabling the spirit to extract a greater depth of flavour.”

The original Rock Island Malt Scotch Whisky is a marriage of Single Cask Single Malts distilled only on Scotland’s Whisky islands. The resulting spirit boasts a complex balance of maritime flavours, with waves of sweet, salty, smoky, and earthy notes and accordingly has been decorated with several high-profile industry awards over the years, including double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Packaged in a unique crocodile skin premium tube, with artwork from renowned Asian designer and tattoo-artist, Milkabean.

RRP: £55.00 / 65.00 EUR

Tasting Notes:

Nose

Experience ashy bonfire embers, grilled pineapple and soft peat smoke on the nose.

Palate

Anticipate waves of sea-salt, caramelised sugar and BBQ’d banana.

Finish

The finish has remnants of smoke with brown sugar, coconut and salted caramel.

ABOUT ROCK ISLAND

Twitter/X : @DLaingWhisky

Instagram: @rockisland_whisky

Facebook: /dlrockisland

Rock Island joined Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts range in 2015, offering consumers the opportunity to taste the ultimate distillation of Scotland’s Whisky Islands, in one delicious glass. The multi award-winning Small Batch Scotch is a marriage of Single Cask Single Malts from Orkney, Arran, Jura, and Islay. The truly unique spirit is celebrated for its beautifully complex flavour profile. The sweet, salty, smoky, and earthy notes earn this maritime Malt the reputation of being the ultimate dram to pair with seafood. Rock Island is offered at high alcohol strength and always without colouring or chill-filtration. Since 2015, the core range has grown to encompass a 10-year-old and Sherry Edition offering for specialist retail, plus occasional limited releases. 

Exceptional Single Cask Releases 

Douglas Laing’s Exceptional Single Cask range is also celebrating the Year of the Dragon with the release of three new Limited-Edition bottlings, consisting of an Old Particular Craigellachie 10 Years Old, an XOP Bunnahabhain 35 Years Old and an XOP Carsebridge 46 Years Old.

Each bottling has been distilled in the previous ‘Year of the Dragon’ and bottled to commemorate the Year of the Wood Dragon.

The intricate and beautiful illustration seen on the label, celebrating the Year of the Wood Dragon was also proudly created by designer and tattoo-artist, Milkabean.

ABOUT DOUGLAS LAING & CO.

www.douglaslaing.com

Douglas Laing & Co. is a leading independent Scotch Whisky distillery, blender and bottler specialising in the selection and release of Single Cask Single and Small Batch Malt Scotch Whiskies.

The company was founded by Fred Douglas Laing in 1948 and is still owned and run by the Laing family – Fred Laing Jr and his daughter Cara Laing.

The company philosophy is to bottle the way the distiller intended – at a high strength and without chill-filtration to preserve the robust and unique character of the Whisky. Douglas Laing’s industry reputation and many awards is testament to this ethos.

Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts, the Ultimate Distillation of Scotland’s Malt Whisky Regions, encompasses The Epicurean Lowland Malt Scotch Whisky, Timorous Beastie (Highlands), Scallywag (Speyside), The Gauldrons (Campbeltown), Rock Island (Islands) and Big Peat (Islay).

Beyond its Blended Malts expertise, the award-winning Douglas Laing portfolio also includes Provenance, Premier Barrel, Old Particular, Xtra Old Particular and XOP Black, collectively known as the firm’s “Exceptional Single Casks”.

The Grand Whisky Auction is now live for their Christmas auction!

The auction closes on Monday the 1st Of January 2024!

Interested in selling whisky in our next auction?

T.+44 (0)1463 210 427 – sales@TGWA.com

Imperial 26 Year Old – 1995 | Single Malts of Scotland – Marriage of Casks

BY ELIXIR DISTILLERS

This very rare expression has been created from single malt distilled in 1995 at the Imperial distillery and matured in American oak refill barrels for 26 years. Only 198 bottles have been produced of this well aged Imperial, from the sadly now lost distillery. Imperial distillery closed its doors in 1998 and was demolished in 2013. Bottled by Elixir Distillers as part of the excellent Single Malt of Scotland series.

JOIN FORCES FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL CASK AND BOTTLING

We know you and your friends love whisky. But have you ever thought of joining forces to create your very own personal bottling? The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to do just that, courtesy of our exclusive 50th Anniversary Cask Club programme.

The idea is simple – you and your pals can club together to share in the experience of selecting a cask of new-make spirit from one of two prestigious Scottish whisky distilleries. Together, you can monitor the cask’s maturation over the next 10 years, and then in 2033, on the Society’s 50th anniversary, you’ll be able to bottle your own whisky with a specially customised label and share the delights of your 10-year-old dram.
The 50th Anniversary Cask Club experience starts from £4,000, depending on what cask type you choose. The up-front price covers the contents of the cask, as well as storage and insurance for the next 10 years. Additional costs such as the bottling fee, duty, and VAT will be payable at the time of bottling.

Don’t miss out – we have a limited number of casks available and they are being snapped up quickly. Get your friends together and own a part of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s story over the next 10 years, with a once-in-a-lifetime bottling to share together in 2033!

Visit the website now to discover everything you need to know about the 50th Anniversary Cask Club.

JOIN THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CASL CLUB TODAY

THE HEARACH CEREMONY SOUNDS #01: Fraser MacBeath

As you pour a dram of The Hearach, we invite you connect with our island through our first immersive stereo audio recording, featuring sounds recorded in Harris from January to July 2023…

Fiona Langley, clarsach harp, Rhenigidale.

Jillian MacLennan, voice, tour guide at Isle of Harris Distillery.

Donald John Mackay, Harris Tweed weaver, loom sounds, Luskentyre.

Claire Wilson School of Dance, ambient noise, Isle of Harris.

Pupils and tutors, singing, Fèis Eilean na Hearadh 2023.

Iain ‘Tosh’ Macintosh and Neil Mackay, voices, ‘Taigh Mo Shenar’, Tarbert.

Lewis Mackenzie, voice, naturalist and kelp diver, North Harris Eagle Observatory.

Isla Scott, Ellie-Ceit Johnson, and Anna Macleod, singing, St Clements’ church, Rodel.

Roddy Macleod, former lighthouse keeper, voice, Scalpay.

Katie Macinnes, fiddle, Crossbost.

Nature sounds captured at…

Seilebost / Scarista / Scalpay / Rhenigidale / Leverburgh / Tarbert / The Clisham / Leverburgh / The Golden Road / Drinishader.

Mixed and mastered by Scott Jones and Fraser MacBeath © 2023

Whisky Magazine issue #196
Get your hands on our latest issue!

This issue celebrates the incredible 25-year milestone of Whisky Magazine, with the cover featuring each of the past front covers over the last 195 issues. To celebrate the quarter-century milestone, the issue features tastings of various 25-year-old whiskies as well as an engaging list of distilleries that are setting the agenda for the industry for the next 25 years.

Make sure you don’t miss out!
Buy your copy of Whisky Magazine today.

GET YOUR COPY TODAY

GET YOUR COPY TODAY

Vintage Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch Whisky Advert

The brand was first established by grocer John Walker, a native of Kilmarnock, who originally established the business and a grocery shop in 1820, with his son Alexander “Alec” Walker and grandson Alexander Walker II, being largely responsible for establishing the whisky as a favoured brand. It is the world’s highest selling Scotch whisky, sold in almost every country.

WRAPPING UP 2023 AT SPRINGBANK

As 2023 comes to an end, we would like to wish a Merry Christmas and give an update on what’s been happening at the distillery this year, what the team has been up to, and what to look forward to next year.

SOCIETY ON TOUR

With Society members all over the world, the sales team have continued to take the Springbank Society “On Tour” and travel to a number of different countries to meet you all face-to-face, giving us a chance to engage with members and share some interesting drams from the distillery.

Since our last update in July, the team have hosted tastings in London, Glasgow, Campbeltown, The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. We hope that those who have attended any of these tastings enjoyed it as much as we did.

We are also in the early planning stages of a UK and European Springbank Society Tour for 2024, so keep your eyes peeled for an event near you!

We will let you know further details soon.

LIMITED RELEASES & TASTING PACKS

During the latter half of 2023, we had some exciting new limited releases. In August, we released our Springbank 18yo and 21yo, and in November, our Springbank 10yo Palo Cortado, Longrow 21yo, and Hazelburn 15yo Sherry Wood.

We understand it is not always easy to find these bottlings, so in an effort to ensure as many members are able to enjoy these limited releases as possible, in January we will be releasing tasting packs which include a 2cl sample of each of these drams, as well as a sample of the latest Campbeltown Loch.

These packs will be made available exclusively to Society members via ballot in the first instance, with the potential to be extended to non-members depending on demand.

Along with these tasting packs, our sales team will host an online tasting to connect with you, share information about these releases, and answer any questions you may have.

We trust that this will come as good news and we’ll follow up with more information in due course.

UPCOMING RELEASES

Moving forward into early 2024, we plan to release the following whiskies:

• Springbank Local Barley 13yo
• Springbank 25yo
• Springbank 12yo Cask Strength
• Springbank 30yo
• Longrow RED (French Pinot Noir) 7yo

These whiskies will be available to purchase through the usual retail channels.

COUNTDOWN COLLECTION

The second edition of our five-part Countdown Collection series, designed to commemorate Springbank’s journey towards its 200th anniversary, is set to be released early next year.

As with each edition of the Countdown Collection, this will be limited to just 500 bottles and available exclusively via ballot to all Springbank fans across the world.

Stay tuned to our socials over the coming months to find out what the next release will be…

With each Countdown Collection release, a prize draw will be conducted the following year for purchasers who have returned their prize draw stub from their certificate.

We recently announced that the top prize in our upcoming prize draw for winners of the 2023 Countdown Collection ballot is a week on our whisky school. See more information on this announcement here.

Runners up prizes will also be announced in the near future via our socials.

ONLINE SCOTCH WHISKY AWARDS

This year, we were delighted to win three awards at the Online Scotch Whisky Awards on Saturday 4th November 2023. The categories were Best Distillery, Best Blended Malt for Campbeltown Loch, and Best Single Malt for Springbank 10yo.

Around 20 of our staff enjoyed a great night celebrating in the Washback Bar while listening to the online live stream. David Allen, our Director of Sales, accepted the awards on behalf of the Distillery and tuned in to have a discussion with Roy & Ralfy and to thank them personally.

Having now won the Best Distillery Award three times in a row, we look forward to another celebratory night in our Washback Bar next year to collect the new Trifecta Award!

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN CAMPBELTOWN

Earlier in the year, we learned of Witchburn Distillery and Dál Riata Distillery both receiving planning permission approval from Argyll & Bute Council. With the new Machrihanish Distillery in progress too, the future of Campbeltown whisky is looking bright!

We view these announcements as great news because the distilleries will create more jobs for the people of Campbeltown and also give visitors more options when they travel to our town. As Campbeltown was once the ‘Whisky Capital of the World’ with over 30 distilleries, it feels like the town is at the beginning of a whisky renaissance.

In another exciting development, we have been given planning permission to build a new Bottling Hall and Dispatch Facility which will be located on the grounds of Glengyle Distillery. As we also plan to convert our current Bottling Hall back into a bonded warehouse, this will free up more space for our casks to mature. You will see some more information on these developments in our distillery update later in this letter.

Here’s an aerial view of where our Bottling Hall and Dispatch Facility will be located:

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF GLENGYLE DISTILLERY & KILKERRAN

2024 will mark the 20th anniversary of our sister distillery, Glengyle and the whisky produced at the distillery, Kilkerran Single Malt. In March of 2004, the first spirit was drawn from its stills and filled into casks by Mr Wright and Mr McHardy.

We don’t need too much of an excuse for a party, and we certainly feel that the 20th anniversary of our distillery is an occasion worth marking.

PRODUCTION TEAM’S DISTILLERY UPDATE

From January to mid-September this year, Springbank produced 260,000 litres of alcohol before production staff moved over to Glengyle in late September. After some initial boiler issues, they are now on course to produce 90,000 litres of alcohol at Glengyle before production ceases on December 20th.

Our staff will then begin 2024 by producing Hazelburn Single Malt at Springbank Distillery in January.

Our floor maltings at Springbank have essentially been operational all year round and by the end of this year, we will have malted 800 tonnes of barley. The only breaks in malting have been for our Malts Festival, the Christmas Market, and our upcoming break for two weeks during Christmas and New Year.

This year we have also made great strides towards increasing the environmental sustainability of our distilleries by transitioning from red diesel to liquified petroleum gas. Since July, both sites have been running on LPG and we believe this will reduce our carbon footprint by around 30% while ensuring there is no effect on the end taste of our whiskies. We have already calculated a carbon emissions reduction of over 300 tonnes since the switchover.

Over the longer-term, we will look to explore zero carbon alternatives, but in the meantime, we are also in the process of installing a Reverse Osmosis unit at Springbank which will clean up the feed water to our boiler and cooling tower. In the process, this will reduce our water and chemical usage dramatically.

In unfortunate news, we discovered a series of unfixable leaks in our old wooden Intermediate Spirit Receiver (ISR) at Springbank. Since then, we have had to replace it, the Feints Receiver, and the Low Wines Receiver with new wooden vats. These old vats dated back to 1971, so we hope for another 50+ years use from our new vessels.

Work continues on our new Bottling Hall and Dispatch Facility up at Glengyle, with the upgrading of vehicle access from Glebe Street into the site and the demolition of the old ‘Glenbarr’ building.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR

From everyone at J&A Mitchell, we would like to thank you for your continued support this year. Whether that be drinking our whisky, travelling to our distillery, or simply telling a friend about us, we greatly appreciate it.

If you are planning a visit over the festive period, click the links for festive opening hours for Springbank Distillery Shop and the Washback Bar. 

Have a fantastic time over the festive season and we hope to see you in 2024!

Sláinte Mhath 🥃

TO JOIN THE SOCIETY CONTACT THEM AT society@springbank.scot

Springbank Distillers Ltd, 9 Bolgam Street, Campbeltown, Scotland, PA28 6HZ

Website

2018 Berry Bros & Rudd Cotswolds, Cask Ref. 2194, Single Malt Whisky

The last few remaining bottles of the Berry Bros. & Rudd Single Cask bottling of our Cotswolds Single Malt. This beautiful whisky; bottled at 53.5%, has notes of dried fruit, orchard fruit, honeycomb and Victoria sponge. Get a bottle from Berry Bros. & Rudd website.

SHOP NOW

Christmas Gifting

Haven’t finished your Christmas shopping yet? 🎁

Surprise the whisky enthusiast in your life with the perfect gift this festive season. Explore our Wemyss Malts Christmas collection, featuring generous gift sets, fun miniatures and captivating bottles.

SHOP OUR CHRISTMAS COLLECTION