Cara Laing: Whisky’s masculine image is still an issue
As the newly-appointed managing director of Douglas Laing & Co., Cara Laing is carrying a lot. Aside from ensuring the future success of her family's company and launching a new single malt brand, there’s also the inherent responsibility that comes with being one of the few female leaders of a Scotch whisky business.
Cara Laing is carrying 75 years of legacy on her shoulders. As the newly-appointed managing director of Douglas Laing & Co., the Glasgow-based, family-owned and operated independent bottler founded by her grandfather in 1948, she is now the face of the company.
That means responsibility for six regional blended malt brands, including Big Peat and Scallywag, a range of independent single cask bottlings, a distribution business, one operational Scotch distillery and another on the way. This may be a family owned business, but it’s no small operation.
Laing has been building to this moment her whole career, despite never initially having a real interest in whisky. She joined Whyte & Mackay in 2006 purely through excitement to work on their vodka portfolio because, at the time, that was her drink of choice.
Her father, Fred Laing, who himself inherited the family business from his father, Fred Douglas Laing, had other ideas. “My dad was excited to give me an educational whisky tour around Scotland, so I got to know some of the whiskies and reasonably enjoyed them,” she admits. “So when I joined Whyte & Mackay I got to spend a lot of time with [master blender] Richard Paterson in his sample room, then also coupled with influence from my father I was put onto Jura whisky as brand manager.”
Small stills: Perthshire’s Strathearn distillery is one of the smallest in Scotland
In 2010, ironically after Whyte & Mackay tried to move her onto vodka, she took a role at Morrison Bowmore Distillers managing the Bowmore and Glen Garioch brands. However, three years later when the family business needed help, Laing couldn’t say no. “I had no intentions to leave until Douglas Laing went through some changes and my dad asked me to come in. As much as I loved working with Bowmore, I couldn't turn down the chance to work with my dad at Douglas Laing.”
Since then Laing has been at the forefront of driving the business forward, first as head of marketing, then as director of whisky. Earlier this year she stepped up once more to take on the role of managing director, the third generation of her family to do so.
“It’s a lot to learn but no-one knows the business like I do; I’ve never worn just one hat,” she says. “No-one has the same genuine love and investment for Douglas Laing as I do. The new role involves far more meetings, I do miss having the odd gap in my diary, but also being the face of the company a bit more is quite nice.”
Angela Brown runs the show at Strathearn as lead distiller
As one of the few female managing directors of a Scotch business, Laing understands the weight her representation has for the industry, and other women aspiring to leadership roles.
She explains: “Female representation in leadership positions is still lacking unfortunately. In a way it was lovely but I was also disappointed by the level of coverage my appointment got, because it shouldn’t be a huge piece of news that a woman becomes a managing director of her family business.
“Visibility of women in senior positions makes it a more realistic goal for other women coming into the whisky industry. It shows there’s career progression for them, it demonstrates it can be done.”
Laing points to the example set by Angela Brown, lead distiller at Strathearn distillery, the tiny, Perthshire operation the company purchased outright in 2020. “Angela runs the show. It’s only a team of two under her but they're both guys and they respect and admire her. It’s incredibly powerful for young female distillers to see someone in Angela’s position.”
The Demeter Collection
With a background in brewing for the likes of Innis & Gunn, Williams Bros and Aldi, Brown joined the Strathearn team in 2021 as a distiller, taking on the mantel of lead distiller after just six months.
“Angela is of the most passionate women in whisky I've ever worked with,” Laing beams. “She treats Strathearn as her own distillery and I love that. She’s dedicated to the quality of spirit we create up there, I’ve never seen so much ownership and accountability for a whisky. She's an amazing asset and member of the team. She’s got a growing reputation and I fear she’ll be snapped up by the big boys.”
Laing and Brown have been working closely toward the release this April of Strathearn’s first single malt whisky under Douglas Laing ownership. Before then, the pair have collaborated to produce a special, singular bottling for the Demeter Collection, the OurWhisky Foundation’s fundraising auction in partnership with Whisky Auctioneer.
Matured in a combination of ex-Bourbon, virgin American oak and ex-Sherry casks, all selected by Laing and Brown, the no-age-statement whisky has spiced oak, fudge and treacle toffee on the nose, with rich dried fruit, baking spice and a hint of smoke on the palate, leading to a warming, cinnamon and mocha finish.
One-of-a-kind whisky: This Strathearn bottled for the Demeter Collection will never be repeated
“While this won’t be the signature style of Strathearn, I wanted to create a whisky with a real spicy, heavy duty depth to it,” Laing explains. “Highlanders can sometimes be light, gristy and barley-sweet, but I felt for a one of one bottle of Strathearn we had an opportunity to do something truly unique, a robust, treacly winter warmer. This is a cracking fireside dram, irrespective of the time of year. One to sip and savour.”
The bottle itself is a work of art, featuring a screen printed design by award winning head of creative, Claire Coetzee, and presented in a hand-carved oak cradle by Glasgow-based craftsman Paul Hodgkiss.
“It’s very special to be part of the inaugural Demeter Collection,” Laing adds. “We love the work the OurWhisky Foundation does and it was a no brainer for us to be involved. There’s a big job to do in terms of educating people in terms of the number of influential women in the whisky industry.”
Non-patronising education
Despite being at the helm of a successful Scotch whisky bottler and distiller, Laing still faces subtle sexism from consumers who still consider whisky to be a man’s drink. “The other week I was in a taxi and the driver wouldn’t believe I drink whisky. I told him I love whisky and he just said, ‘I don't believe that. I bet you never touch the stuff, you like white wine’. It’s still such a stereotype.”
So how do we change perceptions? “A lot of what the OurWhisky Foundation is doing is great, as are companies promoting women for the right reasons, as well as positive PR around promotions within big whisky companies. But we keep coming back to the fact it’s about non-patronising education – you have to slowly chip away at it. It just takes a lot of time, energy and budget to do it. It’s got to be a slow education piece that starts to win over hearts and minds, and shows it’s a drink that women can enjoy as much as anyone else. There’s a backlog in terms of years of whisky being seen as a guy’s drink. Inroads are being made, but we’ve still a long way to go.”
The Demeter Collection auction will run 29 March - 8 April 2024 at whiskyauctioneer.com.
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