Fettercairn reveals £100k anniversary collection
To celebrate its 200th anniversary, Whyte & Mackay-owned distillery Fettercairn has created a collection of six single malts.
Only 10 sets of the collection are available worldwide. The full set has a combined age of 200 years. Fettercairn was founded in 1824 by Sir Alexander Ramsey, who campaigned to license Scotch whisky distillation. The range comprises a 60-year-old single malt, which is the oldest release from Fettercairn to date. This whisky was distilled in 1964, the year distillery manager Stewart Walker was born. The 49-year-old whisky in the collection was distilled in 1973, marking the building of Fettercairn’s last dunnage warehouse. Next in age is the 35-year-old whisky, which was distilled the same year Fettercairn’s longest-serving distillery manager, Douglas Cooper, retired. Cooper was part of the team that introduced Fettercairn’s copper cooling ring, which creates the brand’s tropical, lighter house style by drenching the outside of the stills in water. A 28-year-old whisky, distilled in 1995, has been personally attended to by the brand’s master whisky maker, Gregg Glass, every month. Meanwhile, the 25-year-old is intended to be ‘a perfectly balanced representation of Fettercairn’s tropical house style and flavour-led whisky making’. The expression is finished in ex-Cognac casks. The final and youngest single malt in the collection is a three-year-old distilled in 2021, coinciding with the launch of the Scottish Oak Programme. The initiative aims to create a circular economy for locally grown oak and includes the planting of the Fettercairn Forest, which will eventually create oak to be used in Fettercairn casks. The whiskies are presented in handcrafted Scottish oak cabinets, which were created by John Galvin and feature brass, copper and patina as a nod to the distillery’s cooling ring.
Each bottle sits on a coaster that depicts the whisky’s tasting notes.
Gregg said: “At Fettercairn, we recognise the importance of what came before through 200 years of whisky making here. However, it is the work we are doing today that will ensure we have 200 years to come of fantastic whisky-making.
“In this collection, we have hand-selected casks to mark key moments in our past and our future. The Fettercairn 60-year-old is incredible, and a marker of the care that was taken here to nurture this whisky while it lay resting in our warehouse. The Fettercairn Three-Year-Old – Scottish Oak is a marker not only of the cask, but a reminder too of the type of whisky making we do here – we are hands-on as makers from acorn to cask and glass.
“This collection captures the spirit of all of us at Fettercairn – and that is why we are particularly proud of it.”
The Fettercairn 200th Anniversary Collection will be available from September 2024 for £100,000 (US$127,640). The sets will be available in select regions, including Taiwan, Singapore, the UK, France and Canada.
Walker added: “At Fettercairn, we are constantly curious, looking for new or different ways to make things work. That has always been the way and that attitude has very naturally been passed down over the years. We see imagination as possibility and something to nurture and I believe that shines through in our whisky.
“To lead Fettercairn into their 200th year feels like a rare gift and a privilege. The Fettercairn 200th Anniversary Collection has been a joy to create alongside Gregg and my wider team. I have loved going through our treasure trove of casks to find just the right whiskies to mark this momentous occasion and reliving the stories that come with each special bottle.”
