Fettercairn 50 Years Old

A 50 year old Fettercairn, a distillery bottling, at 47.9%. Fettercairn is a Highland single malt whose tropical character comes from water cooled stills. It has been owned by Whyte and Mackay since 1973.

It was distilled from unpeated malt in stills cooled by their copper rings, the cooling rings lifting a clean, tropical character. A Tawny Port cask held it, shaping the light spirit over the years. In its ethereal years the malt is waxy and oxidative, faded tropical esters and a touch of sotolon (maple, dried fig). American oak suits the tropical make, lending vanilla and coconut over the fruit. After Ramsay lost his fortune, the Fasque estate passed to the Gladstone family in 1829. The cooling rings raise reflux and copper contact, so only the lightest vapours rise, for a tropical spirit. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit.

At its natural 47.9% it is concentrated. Pineapple, citrus and a soft vanilla, with a nutty, raisined red fruit from the cask. The mouthfeel is clean, the fruit carried on a light body. It finishes long, fruity and clean. This is a tropical Highland malt from the foot of the mountains.