Fettercairn 11 Years Old 2008 Cask #HL 16646 (Old Malt Cask)

The Glasgow bottler Hunter Laing bottled this Fettercairn, an 11 year old, distilled in 2008, from cask HL 16646, bottled at 50%, one of 606 bottles. Fettercairn is a Highland single malt from Whyte and Mackay, known for pineapple and tropical fruit. It uses unpeated malt and matures mostly in American oak ex-Bourbon casks.

It was drawn off the stills, the cooling rings raising reflux for a fruity spirit, giving the light, pineapple led Highland spirit. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending vanilla and a little coconut. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the fruit, the body softer and fuller. A gentle maturation suits the light make, the tropical fruit growing richer with time. Its water comes from springs in the Grampian and Cairngorm mountains above the distillery. The cooling rings raise reflux and copper contact, so only the lightest vapours rise, for a tropical spirit.

At a natural 50% it is full and fruity. Pineapple, mango and a gentle honey, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft tropical fruit and a vanilla sit behind the cask. The close is light and warming, fruit over a gentle oak. This is a light, tropical Highland single malt.