Scallywag is the Speyside member of Douglas Laing's Remarkable Regional Malts range, launched in 2013 alongside its peated stablemate Big Peat. The name and the cheerfully truculent fox terrier on the label are tributes to the Laing family's own dogs, who have been a fixture at the company's Glasgow headquarters for several generations.
The recipe is a vatting of Speyside malts with a notable proportion matured in sherry casks, and the house has hinted at components from the likes of Macallan, Mortlach and Glenrothes — all distilleries Douglas Laing has long had access to as an independent bottler. Bottled at 46% without chill filtration or colouring, in keeping with the firm's standard for the range.
Scallywag has expanded over the years into a small family of its own — a Cask Strength edition, a Sherry Edition and various small-batch releases — and has picked up gold medals at the IWSC and the World Whiskies Awards along the way.
The whisky itself is what one would hope for from a sherried Speyside blend: rounded, fruity, comfortable. It lacks the drama of Big Peat but compensates with approachability, and works rather well after dinner or alongside a fruit cake. A reliable, honest bottling at a sensible price, and a useful introduction to the sherried Speyside style for those unwilling to spend Macallan money.
