Fettercairn is one of those Highland distilleries that has quietly built a very distinctive identity without ever becoming noisy about it. This tasting brings together three bottles from very different moments in Fettercairn’s history: a NAS single malt bottled in the 1980s, a 10-year-old bottled in the 1990s, and a 2008 independent bottling from Douglas Laing. On paper, they span three eras of Fettercairn presentation; in the glass, they should offer a useful look at how the distillery’s spirit has been handled, interpreted, and sold across time, even though it lacks expressions from their current core range. More than just a vertical in age or bottling date, this is a small archive of how Fettercairn has been seen by both official and independent bottlers, and of how a once fairly discreet Highland malt can reveal surprising depth when you line up the older releases.
Fettercairn Distillery
Fettercairn is a Highland single malt distillery in the village of Fettercairn, beneath the Grampian foothills in the Howe of Mearns. It was founded in 1824 by Sir Alexander Ramsay and is one of Scotland’s earliest licensed distilleries, second only to Glenlivet in obtaining a licence, according to several historical accounts.
The distillery has had a long and interrupted history: it was rebuilt after a major fire in the late 19th century, closed for a period in the early 20th century, and eventually came under Whyte & Mackay in 1973, where it remains today under that group’s ownership. Most of Fettercairn’s spirit still goes into blends, which is why its single malt output has traditionally been limited.
What makes Fettercairn distinctive is its unusual cooling ring around the still necks, which showers the copper with water during distillation. That extra cooling encourages reflux and is intended to produce a lighter, cleaner spirit with a fruity, tropical profile rather than a heavy, oily one.
The distillery is relatively large, with sources putting annual capacity at around 1.6 million litres of pure alcohol and listing four stills, a 5-ton mash tun, multiple washbacks, and a substantial warehouse capacity. The current official range has expanded in recent years to include age-stated bottlings such as 12, 16, 22 (we reviewed it a few years ago), 28, 40 or even 50 years old.
Old Fettercairn Single Malt (1980s) Review
We start with a non-age-statement (“NAS”) bottling of Old Fettercairn, released under the ‘Old Fettercairn’ branding used by owner Whyte & Mackay until it was dropped around 2001/2002. This was bottled in 750 ml bottles, filled at 40% ABV. Current retail and auction prices for surviving examples of this era run to approximately £150, maybe a bit less on auction if you’re lucky.
Colour:
Amontillado.
Nose:
Neat: The nose opens with honey notes accompanied by ripe peaches, moving into sweet grenadine syrup. Hints of citrus bring some tart brightness, with a sprinkle of ground white pepper. The nose shows a nice intensity for the low ABV and the age in the glass, and maybe the slightest hints of copper coins as a sign of OBE.
Palate:
Neat: Honeyed sweetness and stone fruit carry through from the nose, complemented by milk chocolate, black pepper and a soft, spicy oakiness. A light bitterness from citrus pith balances the sweetness. The mouthfeel is silky and way less thin than you’d expect.
Finish:
The finish is long and spicy, with even more pepper than before. Toasted oak and dried espresso crema bring some bitterness, but without getting excessive.
Comments:
Well, this is quite an honest dram, good in fact, that didn’t crumble after almost half a decade in glass. The peachy fruitiness is pleasant, and this old Fettercairn stays interesting despite its somewhat simplicity. I wouldn’t pay £150 for a bottle, but if you encounter it in a whisky bar or if you can find a sample, it deserves being tasted.
Rating: 6/10
Fettercairn 10-year-old (1990s) Review
Next, we have a 10-year-old bottling which would have appeared on the market at the same time as an 8-year-old and a 30-year-old under the ‘Old Fettercairn’ name, before eventually being replaced by a 12-year-old with new packaging in 2002.
Bottled at 40% ABV in a 700 ml bottle in the early 1990s, under the ‘Old Fettercairn 10 Year Old’ name, it is obviously not widely available anymore.
Colour:
Amber (fake).
Nose:
Neat: The nose is dominated by a distinct sour yoghurt note, alongside a few indefinable but accentuated overripe (almost rotten= fruit notes, some citrus, wet oak, and a little wet cardboard. There are also old and musty notes of wine cellars, dunnage warehouses, and moist soil.
Palate:
Neat: The mouthfeel and arrival are weak and a bit thin. The palate shows clear signs of extended bottle ageing: musty, dusty, and cardboard notes intermingled with sour peach and mango-flavoured yoghurt fruitiness and orange peel, with an oak influence considerably heavier than the stated maturation age would typically produce.
Finish:
Peppery, minty, citrus, and yoghurt notes create quite a long and pleasant-enough finish, slightly better than the palate itself.
Comments:
Unfortunately, the time spent in glass did not help this Old Fettercairn 10-year-old, as the Old Bottle Effect was not merciful on this whisky. However, I fear the spirit itself was not great from the start unless I was unlucky to try this from a bottle that was not correctly stored until it reached me.
Rating: 4/10
Fettercairn 2008 Old Particular Douglas Laing (2020) Review
Our third Fettercairn of the day was distilled in 2008 and matured for 12 years in a hogshead numbered #14164, before being bottled in 2020 by Douglas Laing, under the Old Particular label. It was bottled at 48.4% ABV, with natural colour and non-chill-filtered. It seems to be still available in Poland for just under €80, but I got my bottle back in 2023 for around €50.
Colour:
Pale straw.
Nose:
Neat: The nose opens with lemon cake and creamy vanilla, layered over sweet oats carrying a grain-driven quality. Camomile and pear liqueur add floral and fruity lift, while orange and tangerine juice bring citrus brightness. Watermelon candy, coconut water, and unripe banana round out the nose.
Palate:
Neat: A creamy mouthfeel carries the same cereal-rich, almost umami quality promised on the nose, mixed with a citrus salad of fruit juices and marshmallow sweetness. The whisky then turns dry and oaky, introducing roasted nuts, dry wood, and a rancid-wine note, with ginger and white pepper spice building progressively with each sip.
Finish:
Medium in length and notably dry, closing on dry herbs and nuts, cereal bars, beeswax, and hazelnut nougat, with dehydrated flowers and a final note of almost-burnt caramel.
Comments:
This ‘not old’ Fettercairn shows more complexity than its older siblings, and the extra ABV and lack of chill filtration allow for more intensity. But despite the few decades between these three, there is a link and some heritage. Unfortunately, there is a bit of an off-note on the palate that brings it a little down, with an unbalanced oakiness developing. A shame, as Fettercairn can really become delicious and tropical nowadays, but this one missed that.