‘dog’: is a relatively primitive device which was hand-made to smuggle out whisky or fresh spirit from the distillery or the warehouse. Whisky was rather stolen this way for home consumption than for sale.

The common ‘dog’ device was made of a copper tube sealed at one end and corked at the other. The tube was then hanged on a long copper chain. The worker filled the ‘dog’ at the end of the shift, hanged the chain onto his belt and hid the ‘dog’ into his trousers. Beside the common copper tube, there were other varieties from slim bottles to body-shaped flasks.

No one knows where the name comes from. ‘Dog’ might be derived from retriever (retriever = dog … to retrieve = to take away). Others explain that ‘dog’ comes from ‘dooking’ or from the expression ‘the hair of the dog’ which has relevance rather in the context of hangover than stealing whisky.

In my view, ‘dog’ simply comes from the fact that the device goes with the owner just like dogs do it: on a long leash, always at foot, always silent and loyal.

I have seen how the ‘dog’ works when visited The Balvenie once (just like it is presented by David Mair on the above link). So, I am a proud owner of a sample bottle of sherry cask aged The Balvenie which the distillery workers “allowed me to steal”.