A bottle of 34-year-old rare whisky is being auctioned in aid of the RAF Benevolent Fund, thanks to the result of a charity squash match…
Fred Laing, of Scotch whisky blender and bottler Douglas Laing, and Greg Dillon, founder of GreatDrams.Com, battled it out on the squash court with the victor winning the chance to auction off a rare whisky for a charity of their choice.
Fred chose the RAF Benevolent Fund in tribute to his father, also Fred Douglas Laing but affectionately known as FDL. He said: “My Dad, FDL, the company founder, was an RAF man through and through, and when he returned from the Second World War unscathed, the Scotch whisky business became his focus.
“We bottled a butt of Braeval back in 2013 with all proceeds going to the RAF Benevolent Fund and now the company is seen as part of the RAF Family. We try to help this great cause, particularly in this, the RAF’s 100th anniversary year, whenever possible.”
Fred’s opponent, Greg Dillon chose to support Ollie’s Army, a charity which battles Batten’s disease, a terminal condition which affects the nervous system. The charity match will become an annual competition between the two businessmen with Greg vowing to avenge this year’s 3-1 defeat.
The whisky in question is a Port Ellen and comes from Fred’s own collection. It was originally sold for £1,500 from the legendary ‘dead’ distillery Port Ellen on Islay. The whisky was distilled in May 1982 and bottled in 2016.
An online auction has been set up to sell the bottle and raise funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund.
