Review by: The Muskox

One of the scotch bars in town puts on free tastings from time to time, usually hosted by special guests or brand ambassadors. All you have to do to attend is call them to sign up in advance! So, you ask, what’s the catch? The catch is that the tastings are all around dinnertime, so once you’re in, you’re in prime position to order food and more drinks. Which is fine, since their food is excellent.

Anyways. In last week was Fettercairn! Until that night, I had only ever tried indie bottlings from this distillery. I didn’t have a high expectation for these official bottling, given that Fettercairn’s parent company, Whyte & Mackay, also runs Dalmore and Jura. An East Highland distillery, Fettercairn has a particular tropical character that comes from cooling rings on top of the stills, as well as that characteristic East-Highland earthy funk.

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Fettercairn 12 Year.

Distillery: Fettercairn.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Highlands.

ABV: 40%.

Age: 12 years. Bottled in 2022.

Cask type: Ex-bourbon casks.

Price: $100 CAD

Color: e150. Chill Filtered.

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Nose: Fairly light and sweet. Fresh apples, citrus, and some banana. A sort of gristy and bready malt character. A little bit of oak.

Palate: Medium-light texture. Arrives with sweet malt and vanilla. Develops… well I’ll be, it’s a little tropical. Some slightly tart notes of mango and passionfruit. Moderate oak and vanilla as well.

Finish: Medium-short. Creamy white chocolate and vanilla. Caramel apples and more sweet malt. Peach and a lingering little bit of pineapple.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Last drops of the smoothie”

Conclusion: For a 40% standard offering, this is quite solid. The ex-bourbon casks are really running the show here, with all that vanilla and oak. I was skeptical about the tropical fruit, but it really does show up on the palate there. The mouthfeel and finish are both better than expected too. Nice stuff!

Final Score: 80.

Next was this 16, a batched release and a duty-free exclusive. It features an upgrade to 46.4% ABV and is un-chillfiltered to boot.

Fettercairn 16 3rd Release 2022.

Distillery: Fettercairn.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Highlands.

ABV: 46.4%.

Age: 16 years. Bottled in 2022.

Cask type: A combination of 1st and second fill Oloroso sherry casks, Pedro Ximenez sherry casks, and ex-bourbon casks.

Price: N/A

Color: e150. Non Chill Filtered.

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Nose: Definitely darker than the 12. Noticeable oak and earthy heft on the nose. Brown sugar, browned butter, Jaffa Cakes, dark chocolate, and hazelnuts. Not too tropical here, but a hint of something like mango salsa. Not so much overt sherry either, at least not at first. Some macerated berries and fruitcake emerge with time.

Palate: Medium texture, slightly oily. Arrives with honey, raspberries, sour cherry pie, and maple syrup. Rich oak and leather emerge as the whisky develops, along with, again, a tropical twist – this time into pineapple. Caramel and white chocolate headed into the finish.

Finish: Medium-length, fairly sweet with lingering oak spice. Pineapple, Granny Smiths, nectarines, and ginger candies.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Magical expanding bar-cart globe”

Conclusion: Kudos to Fettercairn for the higher strength on this one. This is quite a solid release, with good distillery character and very balanced sherry (which is generally how I like my sherry to be!). The tropical-twist move on the palate is something I normally only get in very old whiskies… it’s very cool to pick it up in something, shall we say, more affordable.

Final Score: 84.

Finally, we came to the 18. This one has a very interesting finishing cask – Scottish oak! Most of the great Caledonian forests were logged millennia ago… yes, the famously treeless Scottish landscape is technically manmade! Fettercairn has taken the responsible route of replanting trees and, apparently, harvesting their Scottish oak from only fallen logs. I have no earthly idea how that’s supposed to work, but that’s what the brand ambassador said.

Fettercairn 18.

Distillery: Fettercairn

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Highlands.

ABV: 46.8%.

Age: 18 years. Bottled in 2022.

Cask type: Initially matured in first-fill and refill ex-bourbon casks, then finished in virgin Scottish oak casks.

Price: $450 CAD

Color: e150. Non-Chill Filtered.

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Nose: Medium texture. Arrives sweet and rich – apple tart, chewy caramels, and chocolate-covered macadamias. Very fragrant old oak on the development, with walnut and sandalwood. There’s that tropical twist again, maybe more buried by oak than on the 16. Passionfruit and gooseberry.

Palate: Medium texture. Arrives sweet and rich – apple tart, chewy caramels, and chocolate-covered macadamias. Very fragrant old oak on the development, with walnut and sandalwood. There’s that tropical twist again, maybe more buried by oak than on the 16. Passionfruit and gooseberry.

Finish: Medium-length, scented. Rich oak, dark malt, chocolate, and syrup-covered Belgian waffles. Fragrant Earl Grey tea and some tart yellow plums.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Vacation house breakfast nook”

Conclusion: This was the winner of the tasting to me. Sure, there’s a lot of oak, but it never comes across as overly heavy or tannic – it’s always rounded and very fragrant. Maybe that’s a Scottish oak thing. I’d imagine that a virgin American oak finish would be rather spicier. Apparently this will be coming into the LCBO at $450 CAD… which is completely ridiculous if you ask me. If Fettercairn thinks they can market their way into the Macallan 18 price bracket, good luck to them – for what it’s worth, they have the better whisky.

Final Score: 85.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.