I have to admit, this is my first Fettercairn ever. So i came to review it without any prejudice. But, Not long ago, the Fettercairn entry level bottlings were lacking style and from the reviews i read, they were also not too thrilling. This was changed last year when Whyte & Mackay who owns the distillery, decided to do a face lift for the entire line . new bottles were designed and the entire brand is now looking much better, with Sexy bottles, Stylish labels and a much better line-up consisting of the Fior , 24.30 and 40 year olds bottlings.
i will review the entire new line-up, starting with the NAS Fior, and going up until we reach the 40 year old.
Fior, in Gaelic means “Pure”, and essentially it’s a vatting of several vintages, and comes with no age statement. So, shall we dram?
FetterCairn Fior, 42% ABV , £36 (buy here)
Nose: Rich creamy nose , toffee, and spice, but also fruity notes of pears. some hints of smoke. some sherry balsamic notes here as well, i swear!
Palate: Rich, sweet entry with barley sugars, then off to dark chocolate, truffles, coffee beans, and also some smoke and spices. mouth coating , very rewarding palate. I like this stuff!
Finish : Marzipan, smoke and some bitter notes of espresso and spice.
a very enjoyable and luxurious dram.
Bottom line:
I really enjoyed this one. It’s very well made, Rich, Creamy with a brilliant palate and nose. Much better than i anticipated for an ‘entry level’ ‘Cairn. Good work! and i am really looking forward to tasting the older versions. Watch this space for more.
Slainte!
Sincere thanks to Jill of W&M for the official sample.
I’ve been wondering about Fettercairn for quite awhile now.
Seems this is a complex and interesting one, that must be tried.
Nice post!
Indeed. i am hoping the older expressions will be even be better. (24,30,40)
keep u posted.