FETTERCAIRN 28 YO Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 70 cl

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Taste: Highland toffee. Honey. Grapes. Coffee and dark chocolate. Pepper, ginger and a subtle presence of oak. Fettercairn 28 year old seems to love water – it’s therefore a shame its delivered at 43% ABV, which gives the imbiber little room to manoeuvre. Whilst there’s a good interplay between fruit and wood – and balance along with it – the level of odd funk/rancio (rotting flowers) really does detract away from both the maturity and the more defined aromatic aromas/flavours. It’s also crazy expensive for a 28 year old from a little known distillery. Shand’s distillery was also known as Fettercairn Distillery, and the whisky was reasonably well regarded at the time. It appears the current Fettercairn Distillery was previously known as Nethermill, thus confusion was avoided initially. Certainly, Nethermill Distillery is recorded in Fettercairn in 1845 the year of William Shand’s death. 2 Frustratingly, it is also recorded as “Fettercairn Distillery, or Farm of Nethermill” in the Edinburgh Gazette of December 6 1842. Nethermill has infrequently been used as a name under which whisky from Fettercairn distillery has been released.

For at least 10 years he ran parallel experiments in Jamaica and Scotland to improve his rum and whisky production. These experiments included using a wooden still that prevented the wash from scolding and increased the spirit’s alcoholic strength; however, these stills proved grossly inefficient in comparison to other designs of stills such as the Coffey still. By his death in 1845 he was hopelessly indebted, and the distillery never recovered. There is no association between Shand’s distillery and modern Fettercairn. Do you ever consider how you may be remembered? For some of us it may be for voluntary service, professional achievement, or perhaps just warmly within the confines of our own family. Those who have reached great heights through business success or public office are often aware of the eventual eulogising that may follow them. No partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship is created as a result of your use of the Service. Perhaps more questionable is the suggestion that at the height of the success of Shand’s distillery with his experimental stills, Nethermill distillery installed Shand’s design of still in 1832: Finish: long, on earthy, spicy sandalwood, but with a great flash of tropical fruits (passion fruit, pink grapefruit).John Gladstone’s son William Gladstone, went on to become Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer and was instrumental in passing various reforms on the taxation of whisky.

In these days of polarised politics, of war against woke, or of tearing down statuesm it is often expected that one accepts only one version of the truth (one that is politically aligned with their own outlook) at the expense of rational and nuanced consideration. In the case of Gladstone both statements above can be true. Gladstone can be a friend to the whisky industry and a beneficiary of slavery. This is the value offering of the range; lashings of juicy fruit balanced by oak spices and the gentle enhancement of sherry casks. Score: 6/10

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The Nobel Peace Prize is one of 5 prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer. His great fortune had been amassed from supplying weapons to wars around the globe, so the establishment and association with a prize of such worth certainly reframed our association with the name Nobel. 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. In the mouth: Boiled sugar, Moffat toffee, a little oak spice, dry dusty mildly spiced finish with a little cask char on the finish. Conclusions: Smell: Honey and vanilla. Toffee. Apple juice. Ginger snaps. Pineapple and white grapes. Chocolate covered raisins.

Whiskybase B.V. is the Dutch private limited liability company, having its statutory seat in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and its office at Zwaanshals 530, 3035 KS Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Whiskybase B.V. is registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under no. 52072819. Nothing in the Terms shall exclude or limit our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or for death or personal injury resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct by us. On the nose: Glazed Danish pastry, fruit is juicy tropical punch, some dusty vanilla, demerara sugar, subtle wood spices and a hint of distinguished age.Bottom line: Fettercairn is relaunched with a slightly quirky line-up. The 12 year-old base expression is reasonably priced and quite good. It is worth a try for its gentle fruity character. The 28 Year Old is very funky, forget about that one. More recently, Donald Trump was vocal about his belief that he should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize instead of Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia in 2019. The complexity with this case is that Abiy Ahmed subsequently launched a civil war in November 2020 which has been conducted with such brutality that various observers claim genocide. Nose: An aromatic combination of dusty furniture, suede leather and rosewood alongside apricot, peach, clementine and vintage orange liqueur. Running throughout, a funkiness that I’d commonly associate with the OB Fettercairn’s I’ve tasted to date – an odd mixture of chopped herbs and potpourri with creamy coconut. Intriguing, but a little strange and disjointed. The addition of water adds aromas of biscuit crumb, stem ginger and refined brown sugars as well as highlighting the near three decades in cask with increased wood panelling and a touch of polish. Not only a grand day but with some of the best Single Malts I have tasted in a while, a complete Whisky adventure. Once again thanks to all. Nose: Dusty well aged spirit, skin-on hazelnuts, polished oak, baking spices, peanut skins, nutmeg, ground ginger, slightly effervescent with fruit on the mid-palate, Lilt perhaps? Almost rum-like. More Danish-pastry and a bit of dunnage.

Master Whisk Maker Gregg has taken the Scottish Oak Programme as a deeply personal project. He said, Fettercairn distillery is a whisky distillery in Fettercairn. Situated under the Grampian foothills in the Howe of Mearns, Fettercairn town’s name is loosely based on the phrase "the foot of the mountain". Nose…Tropical fruit punch is in charge, pineapple jelly, hint of honeycomb and crushed macadamia nuts, some milk chocolate and golden syrup over cornflakes. Each bottling of the Fettercairn single malt displays the emblem of a Unicorn, a symbol of Scotland since the reign of King Robert III and a feature of the Ramsay coat of arms, once flown over the Fasque Estate upon which the distillery still stands and on the inn, where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert spent the night more than 150 years ago.We move over to the 40 Year Old, distilled 23rd of December 1977. It spent the final few years in a Gonzalez Byass Apostoles Palo Cortado cask #6 (which is technically not a Palo Cortado but a Medium sherry as it is sweetened with a little Pedro Ximénez). An significant leap forward, although the palate does show its age with tannins and a woody sourness creeping in. If anything this proves the potential of the distillery at a high age. Also available from The Whisky Exchange. On the land next to the Fettercairn Distillery, 13,000 oak saplings have been planted. A total of 109 farmers signed up to help assist with the project and the nearby Fasque Sawmill. These examples demonstrate why it can be difficult to settle on a particular view of an individual or historical character without remaining open to future evidence that will paint a less favourable picture. Here I present William Gladstone, British Prime Minister during the critical period of the abolition of slavery and the legitimisation and licencing of the Scotch whisky industry.