As a finish, more vanilla, with barely any dry element to round the dram out. Very down-to-earth, easy to process. Okay in my book, nothing bad about it at all. I’m often asked by my non-whisky friends why I visit so many distilleries. Surely, they say “….they’re all exactly the same, haven’t you seen it all many times before?”. Well, in technical sense yes – water, barley and yeast = whisky – and the processes of mashing, fermentation and distillation are common across all distilleries in their essence. But, it’s the differences – some incredibly subtle – at each and every stage of the whisky making process which result in marked variances of the end liquid. The minutiae of the processes operated across different distilleries * are* different. And they’re important. A change here, or a change there will have a dramatic effect on the flavour and character of the eventual whisky. To the uninitiated it’s easy to understand why things might look the same, but under the hood, there’s a reason why whiskies are different.

Fettercairn 12 Year Old Scotch Whisky : The Whisky Exchange

For the majority of whisky drinkers it is the 12 year old that is most likely to draw attention. I find myself a little concerned with its price point, however, and fear the dreaded ‘p’ word may have been sprinkled liberally over the marketing meetings that led to its release. The premiumisation of whisky is getting rather out of hand of late, with largely unheard of brands suddenly declaring themselves luxury items and hiking their prices accordingly. This is particularly galling with a distillery like Fettercairn, that hasn’t been without image problems in the past. Nevertheless it seems we are expected to forget this and accept the new single malt is worthy of a higher price point. Taste: The natural weight of the spirit isn’t allowed to shine at 40%. There’s some viscosity, but once it gets beyond the front of the mouth it feels underpowered and rather anaemic. The flavour delivery is better – orange sherbet, stone fruit preserves, dried mangos and a side bowl of stewed currants. Running throughout – characterful distillery notes of maltiness, porridge and yeasty bread - livened by white pepper and allspice. Resting is beneficial, offering an easier equilibrium between the spirit and the cask. It adds orange liqueurs and stem ginger whilst assimilating some of the sourer notes into the sweeter ones. Patience Padawan. This is not a problem to me, as I am only tasting this version of the expression. As Whisky For Everyone correctly states: " it is difficult to compare as no one releases the same whisky in a chill filtered and non chill filtered form" (whiskyforeveryone.com). It takes time to produce or repair casks in a cooperage, and maturation on specific casks often mean a hefty price to procure specific casks of the highest quality, whether they are made from virgin oak, first-fill ex-bourbon, or more widely available casks. In short, the type of maturation also dictates the price of a whisky bottle. Distillation at Fettercairn is still a process of evaporation and condensation – so, as my friends would suggest – exactly the same as everywhere else. However, not only is the distillery’s cooling ring unique, it’s also an integral part of what makes Fettercairn unique – both in terms of industrial innovation and also as a key contributor to their spirit character and whisky style. It’s these differences which keep me visiting distilleries - time and time again. And if we want our whiskies to have marked differences in aromas and flavours, and not become a homogenised corpus of liquid, it’s these differences which should be celebrated.People who do not think that chill filtering is a bad thing often mention that it allows whisky makers to keep producing an expression which, on the level of flavours and aromas, is more consistent. The texture is of a water-like viscosity, which means this whisky goes down quite well, and it's a bit more difficult to keep it swirling around in your mouth. Received as a gift and amazed at the smoothness as previous experiences with this distillery were always best described as slightly ‘rough’. Nowadays, it has become popular not to use this process before bottling the whisky, as the market is eager to buy more ' natural' and ' organic' products.

Fettercairn 12 Years Old Pedro Ximenez Sherry Cask Edition Fettercairn 12 Years Old Pedro Ximenez Sherry Cask Edition

To me, the Fettercairn 12 fits well in the group of ' 12y old whiskies which are decent for any occasion'. It is not overly complex, but allows you to taste a couple of flavours and experience a couple of aromas. There's a phrase in the whisky community that is used to describe those special bottles that are very hard to find and are therefore incredibly expensive. 'Unicorn expressions' have an almost mythical status, as plenty of people in the community want to turn their fantasy of tasting, or even owning, such an expression into reality. For this review, I am not going to claim the Fettercairn 12 is a 'Unicorn expression', although it has a unicorn on its label. I am, however, going to put it to the test: is this an expression worth chasing, or not? The Service has been prepared by us solely for information purposes to Members and the Service is based on information we consider reliable and we obtain the contents of the Service from a number of different third party sources (including Contributions), but we do not endorse, support, represent, warrant or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of the Services and any information therein. Producing whisky is expensive. More expensive than creating other types of distilled products. Before you can call a distilled product "whisky", it needs to mature for at least 3 years.No partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship is created as a result of your use of the Service. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.