About Douglas Laing
About Douglas Laing
Welcome to Douglas Laing
Meet the Family
We are a family owned and run business with an excellent, passionate team of people who play a vital role in everything we do.
Founder
Fred Douglas Laing
Fred Douglas Laing (FDL) founded Douglas Laing & Co. in 1948. He always had a taste for Scotch Whisky so his dreams were realised when he established the business in 1948, with little more than a few casks of Blended Scotch Whisky, a recently purchased brand name – King of Scots – and an unyielding desire to succeed. Typical of many of those old characters in our Scotch industry, FDL was "couthy", personable, and commercially astute.
To protect burgeoning sales he established filling contracts with many of Scotland’s most famous and prestigious Distilleries, many are still in place today, so that the future of the company’s stock was assured. His blending skills were self-taught, and through his successes and (occasional) failures, the Whisky Blender’s art was learnt.
Chairman
Fred Laing
Born into a Whisky family in 1950, Fred Jr is the son of our founder, Fred Douglas Laing.
His Father, Fred Sr., was always adamant that his son’s mistakes should be made in someone else’s business, and so Fred apprenticed under several Scotch Whisky greats, before joining the family business in 1972.
Today, Fred maintains a hands-on role in the business, working with the Board and Management team to develop and realise a global strategy that continues to take Douglas Laing and Co. from strength to strength. His creative tasting notes can be found on our Single Cask bottlings, identifiable simply by “FHL”, and his remarkable palate ensures the utmost quality in our Blended Malt bottlings.
Director of Whisky
Cara Laing
Daughter of Fred Jr., Cara is Director of Whisky (and third-generation family member) at Douglas Laing. Cara Laing describes herself as an "all-round Whisky enthusiast!". But where did it all begin?!
Cara was born into Whisky, the industry in which both her father and grandfather worked in. She grew up hearing stories about bottlings for far-flung locations that her father visited on business and being taken around various Distilleries across Scotland.
Many years on, and with a University degree in Marketing, Cara officially entered the Whisky industry in 2006 joining Whyte and Mackay as Brand Manager for Jura Single Malt. Thereafter she moved on to become Marketing Manager for Bowmore and Glen Garioch Single Malts at Morrison Bowmore Distillers. This was an apprenticeship of some considerable note and value, that fostered a deep love and appreciation of the Distillers' art in general, and a soft spot for the brands she previously managed in particular.
Having joined the business in mid-2013, Cara’s role as Director of Whisky sees her head up Marketing for Douglas Laing as well as taking a lead role in the approval of Cask samples and the writing of tasting notes. Cara was recognised for her outstanding commitment to Scotch Whisky in 2014 when she became one of the youngest women to be appointed as a “Keeper of the Quaich”.