Rock Oyster was the fourth addition to what became the Douglas Laing family of Remarkable Regional Malts, introduced in 2015 and produced using only Island malt whiskies. The other family members include Big Peat, Scallywag, Timorous Beastie and Epicurean blends produced using malts from Islay, Speyside, the Highlands and the Lowlands, respectively. The blend was rebranded as Rock Island in April 2019.

This particular bottling is a limited edition 18 year old as opposed to the standard non-age statement. 

Douglas Laing & Co was established in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing, affectionately known as “FDL.” The company started out as a blending business, but over time their focus shifted towards independently bottlings single malts. Fred died in 1982, leaving the business to his two sons, Stewart and Fred Jr, who eventually carved it up in 2013, with Stewart leaving to establish Hunter Laing. Fred Jr and his daughter Cara now run Douglas Laing, which continues to bottle single malt and has also revived its blending business. Additionally, the company has recently moved into distilling as well, announcing plans to construct the new Clutha distillery in Glasgow, and taking over Strathearn in Perthshire in 2019.