The Old Malt Cask range was launched by Douglas Laing with 50 bottlings from various distilleries to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company but they now have more than one hundred carefully selected fine malts in the range. Each single cask bottling is, by definition, limited in number with casks selected from all of Scotland’s great distilleries. Chill filtration is eschewed and the preferred strength is 50 per cent abv. Not everything falls entirely into place for the commemorative malt that I purchased however, as this strength is traditionally referred to as the “Golden Strength”. But I would suspect that a “Diamond Strength” might be less of a delight than this little gem. If this bottling is an example of the quality across the entire Old Malt Cask selection, then Douglas Laing have done a magnificent job.
Sampled, unfortunately, with more than one friend, I only just managed to keep the last fifth of the bottle for myself. In keeping with the theme of this edition, I will readily say that this, with the exception of the HK$1,500 that I recently found in the pocket of a little worn jacket, was my best discovery of 2012. The nose is my least favourite part of the experience as it is somewhat too alcoholic, but this is an entirely minor complaint. Sweet but with hints of green fruit the initial taste morphs into a very rich and almost butterscotch middle that lengthens into a honey laden but warmly alcoholic finish. It demands a little water to bring all of these sensations to the fore and is, in this Olympic year, pure nectar.
