Product description
The Rock Island brand was launched in the late 2018 as part of Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts.
The whisky replaces Rock Oyster, the original blended malt representing the Islands, following feedback from global markets finding oysters too much of a polarizing food. Rock Island is a marriage of single malts distilled on the islands of Islay, Arran, Jura and Orkney and captures smoky and salty character of these local whiskies. The remaining “remarkable regional malts” are Timorous Beastie (Highlands), Scallywag (Speyside), Big Peat (Islay), The Epicurean (Lowlands) and The Gauldrons (Campbeltown). The 10 years old expression was introduced in 2019 as a permanent addition to the range.
Nose: sea breeze, iodine, seaweed, lemon grass, vanilla, honey, peaches, bananas, sweetened lemon juice and some smoke in the background.
Palate: sweet, briny and mildly smoky, vanilla, pineapples, honeydew melon, licorice, lemon peel, white pepper, ginger and distant whiff of smoke.
Finish: fairly long, mildly smoky and mineral, with notes of lemons, white pepper, vanilla salt and hints of oak.