Eight Fettercairn for fun and from a fan


April 7, 2022

Eight Fettercairn for fun and from a fan


It's always a joy to try some 'bizarre' Fettercairns, although it must be said that we've stumbled upon some recent expressions that have been much more 'very good' than, well, 'pretty bizarre'. Today, let's add randomness to the fun…

Fettercairn 16 yo (46.4%, OB, 2nd release, +/-2022)

We've tried the new 16 back in 2020 but this is a newer batch. Let's do this quick… Colour: gold. Nose: lovely and unusual. Dry Madeira, mustard, carbon dust, roasted sesame oil, pinewood, plasticine and paraffin, drop of vinegar, garden peat, black cigars, sour wine… Really a malt like no other. Good fun. Mouth: highly different, starting right on thick stout and smoked mussels, going on with the expected mustard, cedar wood, oude (old) genever, more wax, then a lot of marmalade and earth. A drop of amontillado too, some cinnamon... I find this very good. Finish: long, with bitter almonds, walnuts and paraffin running the show, then bitter oranges in the aftertaste, with a little linseed oil. Comments: careful, these unusual Fettercairns will grow on you, as they did and still do with me. Great improvements for quite some years now.
SGP:472 - 86 points.

Fettercairn 12 yo 2008/2021 (51.5%, Asta Morris, refill oloroso, cask #AM113, 240 bottles)

A new livery at Asta Morris's and always a funny frog on the label. I have to say this ongoing tribute to the French remains highly appreciated at Château Whiskyfun. Colour: gold. Nose: funny glues, putties, acetone, nail polish, walnuts, varnishes and glutamate. Maggi and Trappiste beer (but of course). With water: drier, more mustardy, rather more on plasticine too. Notes of black truffles. Mouth (neat): very rich, thick, all on chocolate, coffee, more walnuts and some chicken bouillon plus triple-sec. Loads of fun, chill this and have with shrimp croquettes! With water: a little rounder and sweeter, towards English brown sauce perhaps, more triple-sec, sweet bitters, a little salt, tangerine skin (chen-pi)… Finish: very long, a little sweeter yet. Kumquats are back, some liquorice wood, a little salt and pepper, a drop of miso soup. A touch of lavender in the aftertaste. Comments: immense fun and a great variant after the OB, while it remained extremely 'Fettercairn'.
SGP:462 - 87 points.

Please even more laughter, we all need some… And let's stay in Belgium…

Fettercairn 12 yo 2008/2021 (53.4%, The Whisky Mercenary, Draconological Society, bourbon hogshead)

Looks like pataphysics have found their homeland in Belgium, let's give our friends a rousing ovation. But draconological? Colour: white wine. Nose: do you know white balsamico? Right, and UHU glue? Rotting strawberries and bananas? Lily flowers? Prickly pears? With water: much more fermentary. Sourdough, wash, beers and then plasticine. Mouth (neat): much less 'whacko' on your palate but a little brutal, hot and grassy. Loads of pear and apple peelings, plus a glass of muscadet and one of bone-dry Breton cider. Salud. With water: sweeter fruits, especially blood oranges. Notes of barley syrup. In the background, Old Fettercairn's peppery mustards and waxy walnuts playing Statler and Waldorf. Finish: long, peppery. Pears in the aftertaste. Comments: you'd almost swear there was some very dry sherry in there, while apparently, there was none. Great drop, nonetheless.
SGP:562 - 86 points.

Fettercairn 12 yo 2009/2021 (53.7%, Liquid Treasures, Winter Edition, refill sherry, 132 bottles)

A winter edition, so we ought to be quick as spring is here! Colour: white wine. Very refill, that sherry. Nose: no. More modern, with some butterscotch and café latte beyond the expected bouillons, soups, sauces, parsleys, gunpowder, struck matches, truffles, mustards and varnishy esters. I can't wait to add a little water… With water: old guns and cabbage soup, artichokes… Mouth (neat): salty and almost peaty, certainly very peppery, mustardy, sour and somewhat sulphury. Not in a bad way, mind you. With water: a fight on your palate. Tobacco, Jerusalem artichoke, celeriac, leather, tobacco, bouillons, mustard… Finish: lime juice, caipirinha and truffles. Comments: like a lot but this one was a little more challenging, perhaps a little unlikely at times. Maybe rather for the genuinely adventurous whisky enthusiast.
SGP:372 - 83 points.

Fettercairn 14 yo 2007/2021 (55.3%, Cadenhead, Annual Shop Release, Baden, Palo Cortado Hogshead, 288 bottles)

Fettercairn 14 yo 2007/2021 (55.3%, Cadenhead, Annual Shop Release, Whisky & More Baden, Palo Cortado Hogshead, 288 bottles)

This baby was finished, not fully matured in palo cortado. Colour: gold. Nose: it seems that the sherry somewhat tamed Fettercairn's fiery character, as we're rather finding shortbread, puréed chestnuts, butterscotch, some slightly meaty toffee, café latte and a couple of Mars bars. A light leathery earthiness in the background. With water: no, a wonderful earthiness, in the front. Compost, tobacco, cracked pepper, umami sauce. It loves water! Mouth (neat): rather in the style of some recent OBs, between oranges, sweet mustard sauce, walnut wine and malt extracts. Ovomaltine/Ovaltine, perhaps. With water: some saltiness, more bouillons, parsley, chives, lemon, Szechuan sauce, touch of caramel… Finish: long, on similar notes, going towards salt and lemon marmalade in the aftertaste. Comments: terrific. The palo cortado feels but that's all great news, with some great tangoing between the spirit and the wine.
SGP:462 - 87 points.

Please another 14 yo…

Fettercairn 14 yo 2007/2021 (55.1%, Thompson Bros., 2 refill barrels, 508 bottles)

Aren't the Thompsons' labels becoming even more artsy these days? And a unicorn, does that bode well? Colour: white wine. Nose: another one that does not nose as it looks. It feels much 'darker', with rather a lot of walnut wine, oloroso (yes I've noticed these were barrels, refill at that), a pack of thin mints, gravy, just malt, ras-el-hanout, vanilla-ed chestnut cream and burnt demerara sugar. With water: earthier. Compost this time again, the blackest black chocolate, coffee dregs, deep-roasted nuts… Mouth (neat): superb mustardy and earthy arrival, very tense, then huge pepper. What a monster. Café latte in the background. With water: fruits have been unleased but this malty and peppery earthiness remains huge. Cloves and juniper in abundance. Finish: very long and saltier. Chive and onion soup, oloroso. I know, I know, barrels. Comments: this one should make for an utter star at blind tastings. I would suppose only Fettercairn may taste this heavily sherried while it's not at all. Crazy malt whisky.
SGP:372 - 87 points.

Perhaps a monstrous older one…

Fettercairn 21 yo 1996/2018 (63.5%, Fadandel.dk, Selected by the Swede, hogshead, cask #4333, 218 bottles)

Assuming they filled the cask at 63.5% vol., this should be the most conservative malt whisky ever. So to speak. Colour: light gold. Nose: grassy, strong, hot. With water: earthy notes, bouillon, liquorice… It's probably a little hard to get right – we'd need an electronic pipette – but there are similarities with umami sauce. Oh, and with Ben Nevis. Mouth (neat): malt, oranges, Red Bull and coffee, and a lot of ethanol. With water: ah yes, Ben Nevis. Bitter oranges, tobacco, waxes, salty soup, touch of coffee, miso, pepper, a dollop of seawater, lime juice… Finish: even more of all that while it's getting ultra-tight. Pepper and riesling in the aftertaste. Comments: I'm not sure it was showing that I loved this one. Mind you, it's a 1996. Well, wasn't it a mislabelled Ben Nevis, by any chance?
SGP:462 - 89 points.

No wonder some Swede selected that baby. Anyway, let's have that famous last one for the road… (I'm sure they'll jail me one day)…

Fettercairn 2006/2017 (45%, L'Esprit, Golden Barley, cask #107733, 350 bottles)

This French one should be gentler. We do need gentleness these days, do we not. Colour: white wine. Nose: softer indeed. Mustard and sunflower oil, cardboard, chalk, pepper, almond milk, chalk, sourdough, pancakes and fresh croissants. Mouth: just very good, brighter than the others, fruitier and easier (pineapples, apples and pears), malty, just a little less Fettercairny, if we may use those 2-pence barbarisms. Finish: medium, fruitier. Danishes, pineapple tarte, lemon tarte, green pepper… Lemon juice in the aftertaste. Comments: great malty and fruity drop, a little cleaner than the others. Once again, I would have cried wolf, should you have said this was a young Ben Nevis.
SGP:652 - 85 points.

Viva Fettercairn! (never thought I'd write that one day).

Check the index of all Fettercairn we've tasted so far