Big Peat Heroes Limited Edition whisky

The family firm behind award winning Islay malt whisky, Big Peat, has launched a charity whisky in honour of the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Big Peat “Heroes” Limited Edition will result in a bulk sanitiser donation to the value of £10,000 being made to a leading UK charity by Douglas Laing & Co.

Douglas Laing & Co. is an independent distillery, blender and bottler specialising in the selection and release of single cask and small batch scotch whiskies. The company was founded by Fred Douglas Laing in 1948 and is still owned and run by the Laing family – Fred Laing Jr and his daughter Cara Laing. Their philosophy is to bottle the way the distiller intended – at a high strength and without chill filtration to preserve the robust and unique character of the whisky. 

Big Peat was established in 2009 by Douglas Laing & Co, and has amassed a somewhat cult following throughout his time in the world of whisky. The award-winning small batch Scotch is a marriage of single cask, single malts distilled only on Islay, including those distilled at Ardbeg, Bowmore, Caol Ila and Port Ellen Distilleries, amongst others. Celebrated for “his” trademark smoky, sooty, ashy and sweet flavour profile, Big Peat is bottled at high alcohol strength and always without colouring or chill-filtration.

Packaged in a rainbow-coloured premium gift tube, the Heroes Edition shows Big Peat himself tearing open his doctor’s coat to reveal a superhero costume underneath. The whisky inside is a marriage of single cask single malts only from Islay, offered at 48% alcohol strength, without colouring or chill-filtration. It is limited to just 1,500 bottles and is exclusively for the UK, with the sale of each bottle contributing the equivalent of £6.67 worth of sanitiser to a worthy cause.

Cara Laing, Marketing Director at Douglas Laing and third generation in her family business, said: “When our Board met to establish our priorities for 2021, we unanimously agreed that we are focused on making tangible contributions to the UK’s recovery from recent catastrophic events. We gathered our wider team on a Zoom call and between us, we came up with a number of initiatives – from donating to the BEN Society in support of the recovery of Scotland’s licensed trade, to offering our warehouse space for mass-vaccinations – plus Big Peat’s Heroes commemorative bottling. Every single individual in key worker roles deserves to be honoured, and this limited edition bottle is designed to do exactly that, by donating a substantial volume of hand sanitiser to a charity chosen by our consumers”.

Whisky lovers are invited to vote for the charity of their choice via an on-pack QR code and Big Peat’s Social Media. Douglas Laing reached out to scores of UK charities, and arrived at a shortlist that includes: 

1. Erskine, caring for veterans of the British Armed Forces; 
2. Marie Curie, providing care and support for those with terminal illness and their families; and,
3. Hearts & Balls, delivering financial and emotional support for rugby players affected by catastrophic injury.

Big Peat Heroes Edition will be available from late March 2021 with an RRP of £45.