Fettercairn 22 Years Old (47%, OB, 2020)

• ABV: 47%
• Age: 22 Years Old
• Bottling: OB
• Category: Highland single malt scotch whisky
• Cost: £200
• Origin: Fettercairn distillery
• Vintage: 1996

What they say

See press release here: Fettercairn adds 22 years old to portfolio

Official tasting notes:

• COLOUR Amber gold
• TASTE Banana, citrus fruit and plum, combines with raisin, fig and ginger bread
• FINISH Spiced pear, caramelised orange and coffee, tempered by liquorice that then makes way to morello cherry, plum and treacle

What I say

The new 22 year old expression from Fettercairn is constructed to highlight the distinctive spirit character produced by Fettercairn’s unique ‘purifier’ stills. Adapted with an external cooling ring, fresh water runs down the outside of the still, forcing heavier vapours to condense and fall back in and leaving only the refined lighter vapours to continue on to condensation and forming their new-make spirit. This spirit has been placed into American oak ex-Bourbon barrels and re-casked 13 years later into similar barrels.

My tasting notes:

• Appearance: White wine gold (7/20), rare, slow, medium-fine tears and long, ultrafine legs.
• Nose: Sweet, vanilla, chewy, some baking spices, white pepper, cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg, foam banana and over-ripe banana estery sweetness, white chocolate, some ripe pear and then tropical pineapple and grapefruit, gingerbread biscuits, powdery lemon-puff biscuits precede more sweetened and syrupy light cereals and malted barley flour.
• Taste: Smooth and sweet, mouth-coating though light-medium bodied, banana & vanilla milkshake, white chocolate, lemon cheesecake with gingernut biscuit base topped with chopped mango and pineapple, woody oak and cedar, creamy and refreshing with a touch of pink grapefruit and yellow plum.
• Finish: Long, gentle gingerbread spices and plenty of honey becomes drying with nutmeg and cinnamon topped cappuccino

Overall

A deliciously sweet expression that really plays on Fettercairns core distillate flavours balanced against classic white oak ex-Bourbon maturation. Tropical fruits and syrup meet vanilla and wood spices resulting in a whole cake-shop of dessert-like flavours.

Score 89/100

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