Fettercairn 8 Years Old

An 8 year old Fettercairn, a distillery bottling, at 43%. Fettercairn is a Highland malt of pineapple and citrus, distilled at the foot of the mountains. It was founded in 1824 by Sir Alexander Ramsay, who turned a corn mill at Nethermill into a distillery.

Made on mountain water with the stills drenched in cold water, the cooling rings lifting a clean, tropical character. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending vanilla and a little coconut. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut over bright pineapple and citrus. American oak suits the tropical make, lending vanilla and coconut over the fruit. It was the second distillery licensed in Scotland after the Excise Act of 1823. It has been owned by Whyte and Mackay since 1973. The clean, fruity spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and fruit to the fore.

At 43% it is fruity, tropical and clean. Pineapple, citrus and a soft vanilla, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is clean, the fruit carried on a light body. It finishes long, fruity and clean. This is a fruity, tropical Highland single malt.