Today, we would like to congratulate not one but two spirit-y birthday children. First, there is long-running indie bottler Douglas Laing, who celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2018. And second, there is newfound Lowlands distillery Kingsbarns, which will soon release its first fully matured single malt Scotch whisky after three long years of wait. Happy birthday, fellas!

As goes without saying, 70 years in an industry that has seen as many ups and downs as the whisky business is not something that is achieved easily. Hence, the folks at Douglas Laing have spared no efforts and expenses to commemorate this jubilee accordingly. Among others, they will release four Platinum bottlings within their ultra-premium XOP range plus an exclusive Old Particular double pack. The latter is limited to no more than 284 hand-numbered items and contains two very different 35-year-olds, namely a well-aged grain whisky by Cambus and a vintage Islay malt by Caol Ila. And the first? Well… so far we only know the debut bottling of the Platinum series. It will be a freakin’ Ardbeg 25yo drawn from a special cask selected by Douglas Laing’s Director of Whisky Cara Leggat and her father Fred Laing Jr., who serves as the company’s Chairman. For more info on these illustrious sips, please visit the respective link below.

The second party host Kingsbarns has a special standing with BarleyMania. After all, my very first blog post was about a Wemyss and Kingsbarns tasting I attended in October of 2016. Among others, I already got to try the distillery’s new make as well as an 18-months-old cask sample at that occasion. And soon I can go one step further and savor the first 3-year-old originating from the Wemyss-owned unit. To do so, however, I would first need to join the distillery’s Founders Club, to whose members this hallmark bottling will exclusively be offered in summer of 2018. Sounds intriguing? Then hop over to Kingsbarns’ official website and learn more!

by Tobi

Douglas Laing @ Web: http://www.douglaslaing.com/
Kingsbarns @ Web: https://www.kingsbarnsdistillery.com/