A SPECIALLY created whisky is being used to help raise funds for a Scottish rugby legend’s charity.

Doddie Weir, who won 61 caps for Scotland between 1990 and 2000, teamed up with Glenkinchie Distillery, near Pencaitland, earlier this year.

Now, the rugby star, who founded My Name’5 Doddie Foundation after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), has taken delivery of the special dram.

He said: “It’s very exciting to see the cask I chose earlier this year now packaged in these beautiful bottles bearing my Foundation tartan.

“The whisky is a great addition to our fundraising efforts and I’m sure it will generate a lot of money to support the search for a cure to MND.

“It’s a gorgeous, smooth and silky single malt and I know people are going to love it. It’s been a pleasure working with the people at Diageo and Glenkinchie and I look forward to sharing a dram with them again soon.”

The cask of 16-year-old Glenkinchie Single Malt Whisky was donated by leading whisky company Diageo, with a total of 378 bottles being bottled and labelled specially to support Doddie’s fundraising for research into a cure for MND.

The condition sees cells in the brain and nerves, called motor neurones, gradually stop working, with symptoms including muscle weakness, slurred speech and difficulty swallowing.

Doddie, who also represented the British and Irish Lions, visited the distillery earlier this year to sample whiskies and personally select the cask.

Now, he has received the first batch of bottles at his home in the Borders.

The single malt will be used in a variety of fundraising activities.

East Lothian Courier:

Ramsay Borthwick, Glenkinchie Distillery manager, helped Doddie select the cask at the distillery.

He said: “We are very proud to have Glenkinchie single malt associated with Doddie Weir and his foundation.

“It is a rare thing to have a single cask of Glenkinchie bottled in this way and, combined with the special My Name’5 Doddie Foundation labels, they will be highly sought after.”