Fettercairn 14yo
Official Travel Retail and Distillery Exclusive | 46% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A horse worth backing; I’m honestly charmed
The honest grind
Do me a small favour, before reading on, open another browser tab and do a wee Google search for “whisky review”. Share in the comments, if you like, and tell me: what result pops up first?
It really depends on where you’re located but, for much of our readership, Dramface appears top. This is a recent thing and we’re all very chuffed about it.
It matters not if you pluralise it, spell your whiskey with an ‘e’, whether you specify brands: “macallan whisky review” or “ardnamurchan whisky review” - or indeed if you do all of the same via a guest tab or incognito window - all the results seem to place us on the first page and very often first - right up top.
Now, what this actually means for us we’re not sure, but we hope it’s positive. We’re not entirely sure how many people grab a keyboard and bang “whisky reviews” into their Googler, but with a little digging we can look into what folk search for and how they find us. But we’re probably not going to do that. Just like we didn’t do it before. Like all the other things we didn’t do.
We didn’t pay for any search engine optimisation (SEO), we didn’t try any shortcuts, hacks, fixes or crowbars. We didn’t design content around Google and we didn’t ever target being top of the search results. It just happened. Since discovering this I’ve played around with different search terms that might be appropriate for Dramface potential readers and, although not always, I generally find the results to be very favourable for us. So with all of this lack of effort, how has it happened?
Well, after just over two and a half years of Dramface - and knocking on for close to 1,000 reviews - it would seem that Google has decided to consider us relevant. I put that down to the grind: near daily content with only relevant links, straight thoughts, unique opinions and original assets. They obviously see our traffic is growing too but, for all of us, and likely you too, the secrets of the search engine algorithms remain locked in a black box. So we just plod on not really paying too much attention to what the machine desires. We simply do exactly what we want to do, when we want to do it, with open honesty - and simply hope we’re discovered by like-minded folk.
I truly believe that even although there are short-cuts, hacks and cheats, they’re betrayed by even minimal digging. We have no desire to entertain them and I think Google has worked out that we’re real. That’s a good feeling. We’re all still filled with drive for the future and we know that so many whisky folk are yet to discover Dramface. We don’t know how many might stick and how many will move on; not everyone’s a reader, not everyone likes our tone or vibe. But the more folk we can reach, the louder our voice becomes and the more we can prove there are other ways to build relevance and it can be done independently. It just takes time.
Now, give me a second to come up with a slick segue to this Fettercairn.
Look at the pretty bottle in these photos, isn’t it stunning? In the hand it’s even better. Yes, there are flaws to the mass-produced glass and it’s a little heavier than it needs to be, but it’s a cracking rebrand. So, I wonder if you know when these new smart and premium looking Fettercairn bottles first arrived?
I can tell you, it was 2018. We’ve had this ‘new’ look for six years. Wow. I have to be honest, I dropped the rebrand as soon as I picked it up because of the initial liquid and how it was first presented; clumsy and tone deaf. Clearly trying to elevate itself above the previous supermarket, mass-market releases (remember Fasque or Fior?) they pitched Fettercairn as a premium malt, ahead of stablemates Tamnavulin and Jura and just behind - or alongside - the gaudy bling of Dalmore.
The problem was the Whyte & Mackay playbook of cynicism was the template and the first releases were filtered, coloured, diluted and horrendously overpriced. The wishes of those of us who had an inkling of the fruity and tropical virtues of Fettercairn malt had, yet again, been sacrificed in the pursuit of ‘smoooth’. We stayed away. We stayed far away.
Then things changed. Without announcement or fanfare.The dark mahogany hues of the first few bottles were replaced by lighter gold and amber. Bottles appeared with higher ABV and - I kid you not, we are still in the territory of Whyte & Mackay here - earnest statements of natural colour and non-chill filtration on the packaging. Prices, while still not cheap, were attenuated too. Special releases from their Warehouse Series showed playfulness and experimentation with careful blending, as opposed to finishing. Wonderful!
Throughout all of this, a new, bright and flavourful Fettercairn was slowly being unveiled. I saddled up and hopped on.
Review
Fettercairn 14yo, Official Bottling, Travel Retail & distillery exclusive, non-chill filtered, natural colour, 46% ABV
£65 paid
Checking the Fettercairn website there are fifteen currently available core releases, but only a few of them are in my sights. We can ignore the hyper-priced stuff; their diluted and filtered £50-plus 12 year old, for example, and anything older than 18 years it seems; the prices are hilarious. Let’s just focus on the sensible.
This 14yo cost me £65 at the distillery and, in the absence of a distillery exclusive, I think it’s nice they stock all of their Travel Retail releases for us to consider during a visit. Despite passing through the airport offerings myself recently, I didn’t spot this, so I’m not sure what they’re charging in the airports, but £65 for a tasty 14 year old these days, all natural, doesn’t seem abusive. It’s fair, even.
I’d also like to make mention of a very warm welcome at the cosy new distillery visitor centre when I dropped by. Of course I was driving, and they were kind enough to offer a wee sample of their 18 year old as a take away, before I’d asked to buy anything. It’s the little things. Please book ahead if you plan to visit, it’s small and I sense the tours are catered for best when booked in advance.
Anyway, for those of you unable to get to the distillery and not heading through a well-stocked airport anytime soon, you also have a great selection of more recent, all-natural Warehouse 2 or Warehouse 14 releases widely available, as well as the 16 year olds. They all sit between £55 and £90 and I’d suggest they’re all worthy; my only near-miss being Warehouse 14 Batch 01 [Edit: I made a mistake here - WH14 Batch 01 is excellent, it’s WH2 Batch 4 that’s under-done - apologies], which was a nudge youthful and, while enjoyable, not as easy to recommend as the others. Forget also the flat and simple 16yo Batch 01 from 2020 - easy to spot; it was a litre bottle.
This wee dram, however, is a clean, sharp and fruity delight.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A horse worth backing; I’m honestly charmed
Nose
Melons, sweet apples and stone fruits. Tinned peaches in syrup too, some vanilla and cream soda. Eucalyptus oils and a custard note break through with water; the fruit sweetens to cantaloup and pineapple. Madeira sponge cake too. A nice little acidic tone also, like dry white wine.
Palate
Drier, sharper and more laser-focused than the fruity nose suggested. The eucalyptus is here with a little vanilla mint too, like Tic Tacs. All the fruits have gone towards confectionery; fruit Polos, pineapple cubes, Lockets. White wine acidity prevails on the palate too, with a little white pepper. Everything is light and elegant and a sense of creaminess making me think a decent chunk of the 14 year old stocks have come from delicious refills. The finish is short with a light acidity and a spot of hazelnut and chocolate praline. Moreish. This will disappear quickly. Loving it. There’s no summer in Glasgow right now, but this brings it.
[Edit: poured a dram after some seafood pasta - of which I make the best I’ve ever eaten - and this is magical, I’d push it to an eight but I know it’s the post-pasta dopamine]
The Dregs
Recently, I’m mindful of having a clear tendency to review whiskies I love, my average scores across reviews are possibly among the highest on the team. I’m in a rut where I’m only motivated to write when I find a cracker that I’d like others to know about. We can argue to-and-fro all day about what I should and shouldn’t be writing about, so let’s just say I’m mindful of it; you need to know when I find the duds too.
I won’t force it though, and the reality is I’m buying very few duds these days. I’m getting better at avoiding banana skins when it comes to whisky purchases. When I can’t try-before-I-buy, I know who I trust and I know who are doing things honestly and earnestly, with established and praised releases as well as those grinding it out, waiting to be discovered. The recent forays with Fettercairn filled me with a confidence on this bottle and it’s proved true. It’s another clean, crafted, well-thought out modern whisky that can -currently - only be made in Scotland.
Despite the horsey-shaped branding, it’s not actually a unicorn, it is not truly unique, but these days it’s a rare find: an official bottling from a legacy brand with honest presentation, a premium feel and a nice balance of purity and value. Think Aultmore, Craigellachie and Benromach, seriously.
Not all of their releases are as fairly priced as this, some are eye-wateringly expensive. A few, like their annual Scottish oak-finished 18 year old may attempt to justify stratospheric prices somewhat, but others, such as their 22 year old, are priced in the laughable bracket and north of £250. This wee travel retail release is not that. It’s priced fairly, and for the joy in the glass it’s actually beautifully, refreshingly honest.
I know many of you will have an aversion to Fettercairn simply because of your experiences with other purchases from within the Whyte & Mackay stable, but please know, this horse has bolted. It’s up and running, furlongs ahead of its stablemates and showing that beauty comes with honesty.
I write positively about this today because I believe, for those of you willing and able, we should show some reciprocity. They’ve done what we’ve been asking for and this is the clean, pure, fruity, natural and open presentation of a previously hidden malt.
When things move in the right direction they deserve at least as much noise as those who have moved towards greed or cynicism. I think it’s an honest horse we need to back.
Now, all I ask of Whyte and Mackay is that they free it from its restrictive Travel Retail paddock and let us have access to it in the wider whisky field.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. WMc
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