Douglas Laing Yula 20YO

A Tasty Dram Whisky Blog tasting notes

Indian dinner with a Norse goddess

Thursday night I was welcomed home by a beautiful yet unknown Norse goddess. Yula, the newest blended malt from Douglas Laing. This is the first bottling in a series of three limited edition single malts and is bottled at 20 years of age.

The story behind the name is as stunning as the packaging. Yula went in search of her long lost love with an apron full of stones. The stones fell out as she travelled, forming a string of islands and leaving behind a trail of her empty quest.

Yula never did find her love, but perished instead in the treacherous seas surrounding Islay, the last jewel shaped stone to fall from her apron. And it’s here on Islay, which in old Norse means “Yula’s Isle”, that our tragic heroine is buried, her final resting place marked by two standing stones which can still be seen to this day.


Identity Card Douglas Laing Yula

    Douglas Laing Yula
  • Douglas Laing Yula
  • Blended malt
  • 20 years old
  • 52.6% ABV
  • Distilled in 1995
  • 900 bottles

Tasting notes

Colour: A natural golden colour. Oil beads form on the side of the glass and slowly slide down as thin legs.

Nose: Fresh and clean as promised. Lots of citrus notes with a waxy edge. Citronella oil candles, wax and salted lemons. Pink candy strips and English wine gums. Sweet dessert wine and dried fruits. Sweet and complex flavours reminiscent of top Indian cuisine (especially the desserts with a floral touch).

Sweet smoke breaks free with a little bit of water. Fudge with a pinch of salt. A lovely nose.

Taste: A velvet mouthfeel. Sweet at first and then BOOM! Smoke in your face. Wax, lemons and wood smoke. Pepper. A little bitterness.

Water shows the feminine touch of the whisky. Kampfer on a camp fire. A lovely floral touch. Condensed milk.

Finish: Scorched wood and sweet flowers.

Douglas Laing Yula


Price: £115 / €160.

An oldschool blend proving the people at Douglas Laing have some fine noses. A complex, floral and smoky blend that could make quite a few single malts blush. The rule of thumb for a good cocktail applies to quality blends. Only quality components make a superb blend sing its song. It's out of my budget range but nevertheless top stuff. And no, I'm not saying this because the sample was free.

P.S. I hope to see a graphic design book on the stunning packaging and label design that's becoming a trademark for Douglas Laing (Just giving a hint, that's all.).


Douglas Laing Yula


Thanks to Hannah from Douglas Laing for the review sample (and the candy). Source and pictures: Douglas Laing

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