Fred Douglas Laing established Douglas Laing & Co in 1948, with little more than a few casks of Blended Scotch Whisky.
From Cask to bottle, our team treat every drop of Whisky as liquid gold. You’ll be challenged to find a more dedicated, passionate and driven team of exceptionally hard-working individuals.
Fred Douglas Laing established Douglas Laing & Co in 1948, with little more than a few casks of Blended Scotch Whisky.
Born into a Whisky blending family in 1950, Fred Jr is the son of our founder, Fred Douglas Laing.
Daughter of Fred Jr., Cara is also a member of the “Keepers of the Quaich”, recognised for her commitment to the industry in 2014.
Joining the family business in 2013, Chris Leggat, husband to Cara, is also respected for his contribution to Scotch Whisky, becoming a Keeper of the Quaich in 2013.
Often described as ‘not your typical accountant’ Danny has built a successful career in the drinks industry and other fantastic brand-led businesses by seeing past the numbers and appreciating the creative magic surrounding the management of a brand.
A member of the team for over 16 years, Alick hails from a background in accountancy and finance. Today, he sits on the Douglas Laing Board and is often found in his element crunching numbers.
Cooper is the current representative in a long line of Laing family fox terriers. Although more "paws off" in his role, Cooper is often spotted roaming around Head Office, bestowing the Scallywag seal of approval on new releases.
Alan McMonegal joined the Douglas Laing team as our Production Manager in December 2014, following 8 years’ service at William Grants where he worked as a Buyer.
Agnese began her Whisky journey in production and worked her way up to back office roles. After more than 9 years working with material plans and new project designs, she joined Douglas Laing with primary responsibility for dry materials.
Having worked at Douglas Laing & Co. for over two decades, Angela has witnessed and helped to facilitate the exponential growth of the business into the international brand it is today.
Joining the company in 2016, Caitlan is a familiar face to those who pay a visit to our Head Office. Initially joining as a receptionist and office assistant, today Caitlan takes great care of our customers in the UK and beyond her current role.
Dale has worked (and played) in the alcohol industry for over a decade. Beginning his career behind a bar, Dale now plays a pivotal role in growing our business as European Regional Sales Manager.
Fred Douglas Laing established Douglas Laing & Co in 1948, with little more than a few casks of Blended Scotch Whisky.
Fred Douglas Laing (FDL) always had a taste for Scotch Whisky; before, during, and after his RAF service. His dreams came true when he established Douglas Laing & Co 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, some 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 blender’s art was learnt.
Born into a Whisky blending family in 1950, Fred Jr is the son of our founder, Fred Douglas Laing.
Born into a Whisky blending family in 1950, Fred Jr is the son of our founder, Fred Douglas Laing. 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.
Daughter of Fred Jr., Cara is also a member of the “Keepers of the Quaich”, recognised for her commitment to the industry in 2014.
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”.
Joining the family business in 2013, Chris Leggat, husband to Cara, is also respected for his contribution to Scotch Whisky, becoming a Keeper of the Quaich in 2013.
Chris Leggat joined Douglas Laing & Co in 2013, continuing an impressive and varied 20 year focused career in the drinks industry. A young restaurant manager at Glasgow institution “The Rogano”, Chris went on to become Brand Ambassador at Tennents, followed by Sales Manager at Cellar Trends. His passion for whisky then took him to Morrison Bowmore Distillers (Suntory) where he looked after the European market as Regional Sales Manager before he joined Douglas Laing as Head of Sales and Commerce. In 2014, Chris was appointed Commercial Director of Douglas Laing & Co, and has since been promoted to CEO in 2018.
Inducted into the Keepers of the Quaich in 2013, Chris is recognised for over a decade’s experience in the spirits industry and an extraordinary commitment to promoting the values and image of Scotch Whisky globally. He and wife Cara are the first British married duo to wear the accolade and two of the youngest Keepers.
Often described as ‘not your typical accountant’ Danny has built a successful career in the drinks industry and other fantastic brand-led businesses by seeing past the numbers and appreciating the creative magic surrounding the management of a brand.
Following a traditional training route through professional practice with French Duncan in Glasgow, Danny then spent some time working with some of Scotland’s largest public sector organisations during a three year stint at PwC. Having had his fill of the profession, in 2007 Danny followed his heart into the Whisky industry taking up a role with William Grants Distillers where he (further) developed his passion for quality spirits. After several years of international travel to far-flung destinations in the Far East, Russia and the USA, supporting Grants overseas subsidiaries with the development of their business and financial systems, he was approached to lead the creation of a new marketing business in Dublin focussing on Grants portfolio of innovative brands.
Despite the ‘good craic’ in Dublin, Danny eventually came back to his roots in Scotland, to gain further insight into a world-renowned brand-led business by taking up a position in the Trump Organisation. His sabbatical from the drinks industry was short-lived when Danny then joined BrewDog as UK Finance Director.
With 16 years of the financial system, management and strategic expertise under his belt, Danny joined the Douglas Laing team in 2017 as Finance Director to head up the Finance, IT and HR functions and to support the business in various strategic projects.
The world of Whisky and other spirits plays a big part in Danny’s life outside of work where he works tirelessly to free up space in his home bar for yet another exceptional offering from Douglas Laing to share with family and friends. Finding just enough time to devote to his other family, Danny can be found socialising with Mrs MacLennan, or on a hill somewhere with his wee scallywag Poppy, a three-year-old Labradinger, or playing chauffeur to his daughter, 9-year-old Anna in her many social pursuits.
Alan McMonegal joined the Douglas Laing team as our Production Manager in December 2014, following 8 years’ service at William Grants where he worked as a Buyer.
Alan joined Douglas Laing in December 2014 as Production Manager, after gaining 8 years of spirits experience at William Grants in a procurement role and further back working in the food industry in various manufacturing roles, manufacturing rolls. He’s ultimately responsible for managing our packaging and spirit stocks, and the planning and bottling of our products. He loves efficiency and a good spreadsheet.
Having worked at Douglas Laing & Co. for over two decades, Angela has witnessed and helped to facilitate the exponential growth of the business into the international brand it is today.
Angela first joined Douglas Laing in 1991 as the Office Trainee and after having multiple finance roles she left in 1995. She realised that her heart lay with Douglas Laing and when the opportunity arose Angela re-joined the company in 1997 as our Accounts Manager. As Angela is one of the longest standing members of the DL team she has amassed a wealth of knowledge of all departments. Her key responsibilities include the preparation of the Accounts, Budgets, Cash-flows and Payroll. Not only does Angela have to tackle all finance issues but also deals with Property Maintenance and wears the Health and Safety hat. With being at Douglas Laing for so many years Angela has seen many changes and is very excited for the future here with the company.
Dale has worked (and played) in the alcohol industry for over a decade. Beginning his career behind a bar, Dale now plays a pivotal role in growing our business as European Regional Sales Manager.
Dale has worked (and played) in the alcohol business for over 10 years - his entire adult life. As for a lot of nippers, it started by selling drinks behind a bar or stand – everything from pulling pints at his local bar to leading teams to international Whisky tradeshows. He then progressed into marketing and account management in the beer game, spending over 6 years between Heineken and BrewDog. His time in beer spanned over 4 different roles ranging from sales support to managing national accounts and earned his stripes in the art of beer by gaining his Certified Cicerone® qualification.
Dale has now returned to his first love, Whisky, spreading his wings in an international sales role. He is driven by great independent companies, making unique and genuine quality products that positively drive forward their industry, which is why he says joining Douglas Laing was a no-brainer!
Outside of work, Dale generally juggles being a sports fanatic with trying to maintain a social life that he lost the ability to keep up with a few years ago.
We currently have 1 vacancy.
Thinking about a career in Whisky? We always welcome applications from talented individuals who are attracted to working our exciting, fast-paced environment. Why not view our current vacancies?
To enter our website, you must be of the legal drinking age at which the purchase and consumption of alcohol is permitted in your country of residence.