Taste Test: This 28-Year-Old Scotch Just Made Its American Debut—and It’s Fantastic

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

Intrepid drinkers in America are able to sample a whole lot of whiskey, if they are motivated enough. That includes bourbon from unlikely corners of the country; whisky from places like Taiwan, France, Denmark, and Tasmania; and rare single-cask single malt scotches that are not commonly found on liquor store shelves. One whisky that even the most dedicated hunters may have not tried before, however, is Fettercairn. That’s because it has only just become available here in the U.S., despite the distillery being around for 200 years, and it’s a welcome addition to the wider world of whisky.

Fettercairn is located in the Highlands of Scotland on the east coast between Aberdeen and Dundee. It was founded in 1824, and like many other distilleries it has been owned by different entities over its long history. The most recent owner is Whyte & Mackay, which acquired the distillery in 1973 (the company also owns The Dalmore and Jura). Over the years, the whisky distilled at Fettercairn has mostly been used in blends, although there have been various single malts available in the U.K. and Europe. The U.S. launch doesn’t include the usual 10 or 12-year-old expressions that anchor a brand, however. Instead, Fettercairn is releasing small amounts of much older whiskies aged for 24 and 28 years, and even tinier amounts of 40, 46, and 50-year-old single malts. I’m going to focus on the 28-year-old here, which is arguably the best of the whiskies I was able to sample.

According to the distillery, one thing that makes its whisky stand out is the use of a copper cooling ring on the outside of the still. This is supposed to quickly bring the temperature down during distillation, increasing condensation inside of the still and therefore “allowing the lightest vapors to rise.” That certainly might be the case, although it’s more conceptual than tangible when you’re actually tasting the whisky. Whatever the case, the 28-year-old is a lovely single malt even that was aged in ex-bourbon barrels, as is the majority of whisky produced at Fettercairn (some of the older age statements are finished in a new round of bourbon barrels, and the 50-year-old was finished in a port pipe). Just 500 bottles of the 28-year-old are coming to the U.S., each with a retail price of $1,250, so this is a pretty limited release but worth the expense if you find one. The whisky was bottled at 42 percent ABV, and has layers of dried fruit, custard, cantaloupe, and dark chocolate on the palate, along with some notes of leather, oak, licorice, and a touch of menthol on the finish. The tropical fruit character that often leads the palate in a single malt this old is present, but not overwhelming.

A rep for the distillery said that next year some younger whiskies will be added to the lineup, including 12, 16, and 18-year-old expressions, and I look forward to trying those to see how they compare to this much older expression. Fettercairn 28 is not some life-changing bottle that you will swap out for longtime favorites on your home bar, but it’s a fantastic new addition to the American whisky market, and a chance to try something that has likely been off your radar until now.

Score: 88