Fettercairn in tropical spheres battling it out
Fettercairn and its sister distilleries Jura, Dalmore and Tamnavulin are all enjoying a good day in the sun for quite a few years already. All these brands have shown healthy growth in sales. Who would have thought this about ugly ducklings like Tamnavulin and Fettercairn? Now, these brands are very visible on the shelf of the local liquor store. That is worth a compliment of course! Well done. Last year, I had a somewhat disappointing experience by pitting an official and independent bottling of the same age against each other. Almost exactly to the day one year later, we repeat the experiment. But this time, we have Fettercairn in the glass matured to a respectable age. I got my hands on a 19 years old bottled by Cadenhead’s. My dear whisky friend Malt Talk Emy then surprised me with the official 22 years old. Thank you! That made for an interesting head-to-head battle!
Fettercairn 19 years old, vintage 2006, bottled at 46 % abv by Cadenhead’s
First things first: Vintage 2006 Fettercairn matured in bourbon barrels bottled in June 2026 in the Orginal Collection of Cadenhead’s.
Upon Sipping: A very classic bourbon matured nose full throttle on vanilla, gummi candy, some warm apple pie. But when you get past all that, something tropical starts to develop in the glass. First you get treated with some delightful peaches and then it moves towards mango and passionfruit. Also a touch of green melon. In short: a nose that puts you in the lavender haze! On the tongue, it remains a more middle of the road vanilla bourbon influenced whisky, with a nice, fat, creamy mouthfeel. But this is highland malt, and it certainly delivers nice spices derived from the almost two decades of making love with the wood. The result is a balanced creature that honours the spirit most of all, as if it was some delicate treasure. And it is, we adore spirit driven whisky. This Fettercairn is not obliterated by something exotic, but shines on its own. If I had to complain about something, it is maybe the finish lacking some punch. It swoops out of sight a tad too soon to really be noticed.
Word to the Wise: Excellent spirit driven Fettercairn, with on the nose lovely tropical notes.
Score: 86 points.
Fettercairn 22 years old, bottled at 47 % abv
First things first: This Fettercairn was bottled between 2020 and 2022 and matured in ex-American bourbon casks.
Upon Sipping: In theory, this should be very close to the Cadenhead’s small batch version. And indeed, when I put the glass under my nose, it is almost exactly the same. Maybe even a little less vanilla driven and more members from the fruitbasket family. When I put my nose deeper, there is a delightful hint of honey as well. On the tongue, a good creamy fruitiness, some wood spices and right through the middle: fresh peaches. On the finish, in contrast with the squeaky clean Cadenhead’s, there is a more floral note, almost leaning towards a soapy signature, but extremely delicate. It does not bother me. On repeated sipping it becomes dry, but the fruity elements remain strong throughout. Sadly, the floral spices on the finish put me off a little bit more.
Word to the Wise: Good stuff, performing better at places compared to the Cadenhead’s, but also showing some weakness elsewhere. In short: a tie.
Score: 86 points.