Whisky : Douglas Laing’s Rock Oyster 18 Year

Country/Region : Scotland/Blend (Arran, Jura, Laphroaig?, Highland Park)

ABV : 46.8%

Age : 18 Year (Bottled May 12, 2017)

Cask : Ex-Bourbon/Sherry

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Home

Nose : Salt & Citrus; dried kelp, stewed seaweed, and lemon rise out of the glass.  Inside of a boiled crab shell the wife calls it.  Faintly smoky burnt driftwood and a bit of cream hint at some lovely aged peat.

Palate : Tar, wet sand, and a creamy toasted lemon meringue— the palate mirrors the nose very well.  Lemon zest and pink peppercorns give a faintly floral mild refreshing spice to the dram.  The wife, feeling especially poetic, described it as, ‘a salty sea carrot cultivated by a crusty crab.’

Finish :  Lingering bright spice and subtle cream.

Score : 7

Mental Image : A Crab, probably more like Sebastian than Eugene, Tamatoa, or Zoidberg.

Something Similar : Compass Box No Name Ed. 1 (less salt, less balance, more peaty bite, more smoke)

Something Similar : Highland Park 18 (similar maritime notes & sweetness, more coal smoke)

Something Worse : Yoichi Single Malt NAS (similar salty & smooth profile, less funk, cream, & complexity)

Notes :  A blend of salty succulent malts, Rock Oyster is easily my favorite in Douglas Laing’s Regional Malts series, and this bottle in particular is probably my favorite >$100 blended malt.  I love the salt, citrus, cream, and faint smoke or char on this.  It beautifully and harmoniously combines a variety of island malts into a cohesive dram that just makes sense.  What else is there to say about it, it is just a solid bottle and I love what Douglas Laing has been able to accomplish with the Regional Malts series.

Note that the Rock Oyster range has been renamed Rock Island though much of the oyster iconography remains.  I am not sure why the change.  In addition, it seems the lineup now features a 10 Year and a 21 Year in addition to the standard NAS edition.  I will certainly be keeping an eye out for the 21 Year, assuming the island malts play as nicely together as they did in this dram, it should be excellent.