Douglas Laing

After their father died in 1982, Stewart and Fred Laing ran the business together.^6,7,12 Over those years they moved it away from export blends toward single malt bottlings.^6,7,12 After the Asian economies crashed in the mid-1990s, the firm remade itself in 1999 as a single cask bottler under its Old Malt Cask brand.^10,11 A year later it began selling in the UK for the first time.^10,11 The Old and Rare range followed in 2002.¹⁰ On 30 April 2013 the brothers split the firm, and Stewart's new Hunter Laing took the Old Malt Cask and Old & Rare brands and a bottling plant.^4,5,6

From 2009 the firm built its Remarkable Regional Malts, blended malts each drawn from one whisky region, starting with Big Peat from Islay.^7,10,13 Scallywag, Timorous Beastie, Rock Oyster, now Rock Island, and The Epicurean followed, and The Gauldrons from Campbeltown completed the family in 2017.^7,10,13 In 2013 Cara Laing joined as Director of Whisky and Chris Leggat as Commercial Director, and Old Particular replaced Old Malt Cask as the firm's single cask range.^10,11,13 XOP, short for Xtra Old Particular, followed in 2014 as the big brother to Old Particular, and the young Provenance range was rebranded in 2015.^10,13 In 2018 Chris Leggat became chief executive and Fred Laing became chairman.^11,14

In July 2017 Douglas Laing announced plans for a distillery, bottling hall and head office at Pacific Quay in Glasgow, later named Clutha.^7,10,15 It was expected to open in autumn 2019, but later that year it was still awaiting planning approval.^7,10,15 In 2019 the firm bought Strathearn, a microdistillery near Methven, and fitted it with larger stills, a new mash tun and more washbacks.^7,8,9 Cara Laing moved up from director of whisky to managing director on 31 January 2024, and said the firm was still working towards a Glasgow distillery.¹⁶ In April 2024 Douglas Laing announced the first Strathearn single malt under its ownership, from 32 casks, including spirit it had made itself.^8,17

Sources

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