Battle of the Blends – 18 years Timourous Beastie vs Rock Oyster

Posted on April 5, 2026 by Carissa Hickling

It was a quiet Sunday late afternoon before Mumbai’s Mahindra Blues Festival. My tasting companion and I were interested in just a light taste or two before we caught the evening’s entertainment.

I thought it would be fun to try side by side a couple of Douglas Laing blends – both 18 year years, both limited edition expressions.

Timorous Beastie 18 year Blended Malt 46.8% – We last tried a no-age statement (NAS) expression of this Highland Blend from Douglas Laing in 2016. It will be interesting to contrast that with this limited edition, previously available for ~Eur 93,
Rock Oyster 18 year Blended Malt 46.8% – Also in 2016, we tried the NAS expression – Islands blend – Rock Oyster 57.4%, also no longer available yet previously retailed for Eur 104.

My tasting companion was skeptical – he wasn’t so impressed with the NAS options. So what did we think of the 18 year olds?

Timorous Beastie 18 year Blended Malt 46.8%

Nose – Big! Lots of cereals with hay and barley. A sweet lemon curd, honey, settling into lemon pie with a hint of white pepper, vanilla, caramel biscuits
Palate – Spicy, yet balances out, red macintosh applies, which then shifts into strawberries and cream
Finish – A touch bitter
Water – Wonderful! brought out a Tutti Fruitti sweetness with a chocolaty close

The Timorous Beastie is a limited edition malt made with Highland whiskies with the youngest 18 years.

Next up, we shifted to the Islands….

Rock Oyster 18 year Blended Malt 46.8%

Nose – It began with a lovely lemon sherbert, joined by a saline, mineral, heavier undertones – like a heavy rye sourdough, then sweet capsicum, candied lemon rind, vanilla ice cream
Palate – Vegitative peat, miineralic, lovely mouthfeel
Finish – A proper finish, long and strong – like a Highland Park 18 year – sweet peat with subtle saline
Revisit – After some time, we revisited the whisky and found it had shifted into cotton candy with a lovely minerality, having both depth and character

Douglas Laing’s Rock Oyster Island blended malt from the islands – Arran, Jura, Islay and Orkney.

These miniatures were shared by the fabulous Whisky Flu – his blog is a must-read for spirits – often going deep into the process of making malty (or other) magic!

Related blends from Douglas Laing previously sampled:

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Douglas Laing’s Highland Blend Timorous Beastie 46.8%

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Carissa Hickling

With their inventive packaging, having a sense of whimsy, play and days of yore, the “Remarkable Regional Malts” series explores the five different regions of Scotland.

We began with Douglas Laing’s Highland blend …

Timorous Beastie 46.8%

Nose – Fruity, yoghurt, an agave-like quality, raw, barley mash, spice, light cream, caramel, baby puke, yeasty, honey sweet
Palate – Spice burn, a few remarked “tastes better than it smells”, quite peppery with more alcohol ‘beastie’ than timidity
Finish – Sharp, short, bitter

There was a mixed reaction to this one. The agave like aroma was akin to the “morning after an overindulgence of tequila”… Another found this was “something to be used for cleaning like solvent.” Yet another quipped “The rat is there on the label for a reason!”

While not horrifically bad, it was a bit like having peppery tequila.

Here’s what they have to say:

Douglas Laing’s Timorous Beastie, immortalised in Robert Burns’ famous Scots poem “To a Mouse”, was a timid, little field mouse. Echoing our national bard’s wit, ours is most certainly not for the fainthearted! This non coloured, non-chill-filtered Small Batch bottling is a marriage of appropriately aged and selected Highland Malts – including, amongst others, those distilled at Glen Garioch, Dalmore and Glengoyne distilleries.

Tasting notes:

Nose – Overridingly sweet on the nose, then warming to floral, light barley & spicy honeyed tones.
Palate – The palate opens in a spicy style – fructiferous, mellow, with sugary vanilla.
Finish – The finish is at first subtle, but runs to a sweet character that carries an oaky quality plus a late meringue style.