Douglas Laing’s original Scallywag was launched in November 2013 and was quite successful (reviewed here) I liked it quite a bit . However D.Laing were not content with letting sleeping dogs lie, and they now reveal its Cask strength version: Scallywag Cask Strength bottled at 53.6%, and is more limited .This edition bottling is created using only the finest Speyside Malts including, amongst others, Mortlach, Macallan and Glenrothes, and only 1,000 cases are available globally. Generally this looks like a more sherried-centric edition, and it is also indicated by D.Laing.
Scallywag Cask Strength Limited edition #1 , 53.6% 
Nose: starts quite spicy and rich, with some cloves, ginger and stewed fruit: prunes, figs, and ripe oranges, quite sharp with mint , and pine needles too, toffee and wood.
Palate: very nice stuff for sure, the stewed fruits are back, as well as chocolate, and toffee, with quite some white pepper, ginger, and cinnamon. toffee treacle and some leather too, and a hint of tobacco.
Finish: chocolate fondant, tobacco, vanilla and toffee, some cinnamon and clove too.
This whisky feels nicer than the original Scallywag, not only by ABV, but it’s noticeably stronger on sherry, which is great IMHO. A worthy dram indeed, not sure about pricing, but I’d buy this over the regular version any day. I bet some would say it’s not as complex, but for me it just hits the sweet spot. Well done, Again. D.Laing & Co .
Score: 87/100
Official sample provided by D.Laing