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Release Notes
One of 249 bottles charged from refill hogshead DL11661 in April of 2017. Originally distilled in November of 1995.
From the Bottle
3rd Party Tasting Notes
Nose: sugar sweet, fructiferous and spiced with later cereal based qualities
Palate: the spices are much more to the fore, tongue tingling citric and malty
Finish: shows butterscotch, light molasses, more spice and later fine oak
Palate: the spices are much more to the fore, tongue tingling citric and malty
Finish: shows butterscotch, light molasses, more spice and later fine oak
From the Bottle
The Bottler: Douglas Laing & Co
| Established: 1948 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Douglas House, 18 Lynedoch Crescent, Glasgow, G3 6EQ, Scotland |
| → website |
They are proud Scots - and the Scottish attitudes of honesty, courtesy and friendliness is amply demonstrated as they go about their business at home and abroad boosting their business and customer satisfaction.
This guarded and cherished stock - sold by allocation - and was previously reserved for their blended whiskies - like the King of Scots, seen here.
But the brothers, once they"ve stopped looking longingly at their pride and joy, will cheerfully dig out a bottle from the corner of a warehouse and happily sell it to discerning customers with accompanying explanatory booklets and carefully-worded tasting notes penned by self-styled, in-house wordsmith, Fred with Stewart checking his spelling.
A key feature is their vast stock of different Malts built up over the last 50 years and it"s been a pleasing perk, benefit and privilege for the current directors to nose and taste some of the finest quality samples.
Fred and Stewart, astute as their father was ground-breaking, got their heads together at one tasting session and boldly declared: "Some of these malts are too good to blend." And so it was in 1998, before they headed off to celebrate the new Millennium, that their much sought-after OLD MALT CASK selection was rolled out.
And, in truth, they"ve not let their Dad down over the past 25 years in charge. Indeed, they"ve grafted to uphold the traditions of the family - apart from the sheep stealing and cattle rustling.
They have successfully expanded their markets so that their highly-rated ranges now regularly features blends up to 25 years old, using the original blend specifications handed down to them - and written out so they wouldn"t forget them.
Glasgow-based Douglas Laing & Co are independent bottlers and blenders headed by brothers, Fred and Stewart Laing, who proved the value of nepotism when they succeeded their father, Fred Douglas who founded the company in 1948.
Today the company has contented clients in the Far East, Europe, the USA, Russia, South Africa and Australasia and, increasingly, in the UK where London giants, Harrod"s, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges as well as premium independent Whisky specialists like The Whisky Shop Group and Vintage House are on the customer manifest.
The brothers" passports are rarely in their desk drawers as they carry out extensive tastings throughout the year all over the world, always dressed appropriately in the kilt, not the same one, of course.
from DouglasLaingWhisky.com
The Distillery: Fettercairn
| Established: 1824 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Kincardineshire AB30 1YB |
| → website |
The Old Fettercairn distillery (a.k.a. Fettercairn or Nethermill) was built in 1824 by Sir Alexander Ramsay. So, that's the meaning of the number 1824 on the bottles - it's not the distillation year... The distillery was rebuilt between 1887 and 1890 after it was damaged by a fire. Fettercairn was hardly the only distillery in Scotland to suffer such a fate - in fact I imagine that the distilleries that were not damaged or even completely destroyed at least once in their lifetime are the proverbial exceptions to the rule...
The story of Fettercairn is not all that different from that of other Scottish distilleries either, in the sense that this whisky distillery had quite a few other owners and licensees during the rest of the 19th century, including James Stewart & Co., Gibb, Durie & Co., James Durie and David Durie.
Fettercairn was silent between 1926 & 1939, when it was acquired by Associated Scottish Distilleries Ltd, a subsidiary of Train & McIntyre Ltd. (owned by National Distillers of America). The new owners resume production immediately and until the maltings were closed in 1960 the distillery enjoyed a few relatively quiet decades. Then things start to become 'fluid' again... In 1966 the number of stills was extended from two to four, but that was the last major change to the distillery itself - unless you count the visitor centre that was opened as early as 1989.
Fettercairn was acquired by the Tomintoul-Glenlivet Distillery Co Ltd. in 1971 (owned by W. & S. Strong & Co. and Hay & MacLeod & Co. at the time). Just two years later, the Tomintoul-Glenlivet Distillery Co Ltd. (who founded Tomintoul in Speyside in 1964) is sold to Scottish & Universal Investment Trust (owned by the Fraser family) who buy Whyte & Mackay in the same year.
Fettercairn and Tomintoul become part of Whyte & Mackay Distillers Ltd.
In 1974 Whyte & Mackay is bought by 'Lonhro' who sell it on to the Brent Walker Group plc. in 1988. Then, in 1990, Whyte & Mackay Distillers is purchased by American Brands, renamed to JBB Greater Europe plc. in 1995. This company was bought by another company with the name Kyndal International Ltd. in 2001, who shortly afterwards decided to change their name to... Whyte & Mackay Ltd.
It's enough to make your head spin, isn't it? And then, in 2007, the story of Fettercairn took another unexpected turn when owners Whyte & Mackay were bought by the tycoon Vijay Mallya from India.
In 2002 the old design of the bottle and label of 'Old Fettercairn' (shown above) were changed to 'Fettercairn 1824' shown at the right. At that time, Fettercairn was the only remaining active distillery in that part of the Eastern Highlands - over the years all the other representatives of the area were closed or mothballed; Glencadam (in 2000), Glenury Royal (in 1985), Hillside - Glenesk (in 1985), Lochside (in 1992) and North Port (a.k.a. Brechin, the first one to go in 1983). Fortunately, The Glencadam distillery was brought back to life again in 2003 by the company Angus Dundee...
As I mentioned earlier, the ownership of the Fettercairn distillery changed in 2007. After the take-over, many people felt uncertain about the future of Fettercairn and its sister distilleries Dalmore and Isle of Jura under the stewardship of new owners Whyte & Mackay. Their Indian overlords United Spirits (lead by mogul Vijay Mallya) had paid a top price when the whisky market was at one of its peaks but the credit crunch of 2008 came as a nasty surprise...
Thanks to growing whisky exports to South America and Asia, the Scotch whisky industry as a whole didn't suffer as much from the credit crisis as some people had expected. However, it seems the take-over of W&M was leveraged quite heavily. This suppressed the profits of the company in the years after the deal, putting them at a disadvantage compared to other whisky companies.
While the shift of focus from quality to luxury worked well for some brands it didn't work too well for Dalmore.
Fettercairn in the New Millenium
2001 - New owners Kyndal Spirits bought Whyte & Mackay from JBB Worldwide.
2002 - A new packaging is introduced for the official bottlings and the old 10yo bottling is replaced with a 12yo. The name is changed from 'Old Fettercairn' to 'Fettercairn 1824' - supposedly chosen to stress Fettercairn's long and respectable history. Hmmm.... Perhaps they simply should have hung on to the word "old" in the title?
2007 - United Spirits from Vijay Mallya buys Whyte & Mackay, its brands and distilleries.
2009 - The new owners aim for a more 'luxurious' image and introduce a 24yo, a 30yo and a 40yo whisky.
2010 - The old 12yo expression is replaced with the Fettercairn Fior - which is packaged not unlike a liqueur. The bottling does not have an age statement, but it DOES contain some peated malt...
The story of Fettercairn is not all that different from that of other Scottish distilleries either, in the sense that this whisky distillery had quite a few other owners and licensees during the rest of the 19th century, including James Stewart & Co., Gibb, Durie & Co., James Durie and David Durie.
Fettercairn was silent between 1926 & 1939, when it was acquired by Associated Scottish Distilleries Ltd, a subsidiary of Train & McIntyre Ltd. (owned by National Distillers of America). The new owners resume production immediately and until the maltings were closed in 1960 the distillery enjoyed a few relatively quiet decades. Then things start to become 'fluid' again... In 1966 the number of stills was extended from two to four, but that was the last major change to the distillery itself - unless you count the visitor centre that was opened as early as 1989.
Fettercairn was acquired by the Tomintoul-Glenlivet Distillery Co Ltd. in 1971 (owned by W. & S. Strong & Co. and Hay & MacLeod & Co. at the time). Just two years later, the Tomintoul-Glenlivet Distillery Co Ltd. (who founded Tomintoul in Speyside in 1964) is sold to Scottish & Universal Investment Trust (owned by the Fraser family) who buy Whyte & Mackay in the same year.
Fettercairn and Tomintoul become part of Whyte & Mackay Distillers Ltd.
In 1974 Whyte & Mackay is bought by 'Lonhro' who sell it on to the Brent Walker Group plc. in 1988. Then, in 1990, Whyte & Mackay Distillers is purchased by American Brands, renamed to JBB Greater Europe plc. in 1995. This company was bought by another company with the name Kyndal International Ltd. in 2001, who shortly afterwards decided to change their name to... Whyte & Mackay Ltd.
It's enough to make your head spin, isn't it? And then, in 2007, the story of Fettercairn took another unexpected turn when owners Whyte & Mackay were bought by the tycoon Vijay Mallya from India.
In 2002 the old design of the bottle and label of 'Old Fettercairn' (shown above) were changed to 'Fettercairn 1824' shown at the right. At that time, Fettercairn was the only remaining active distillery in that part of the Eastern Highlands - over the years all the other representatives of the area were closed or mothballed; Glencadam (in 2000), Glenury Royal (in 1985), Hillside - Glenesk (in 1985), Lochside (in 1992) and North Port (a.k.a. Brechin, the first one to go in 1983). Fortunately, The Glencadam distillery was brought back to life again in 2003 by the company Angus Dundee...
As I mentioned earlier, the ownership of the Fettercairn distillery changed in 2007. After the take-over, many people felt uncertain about the future of Fettercairn and its sister distilleries Dalmore and Isle of Jura under the stewardship of new owners Whyte & Mackay. Their Indian overlords United Spirits (lead by mogul Vijay Mallya) had paid a top price when the whisky market was at one of its peaks but the credit crunch of 2008 came as a nasty surprise...
Thanks to growing whisky exports to South America and Asia, the Scotch whisky industry as a whole didn't suffer as much from the credit crisis as some people had expected. However, it seems the take-over of W&M was leveraged quite heavily. This suppressed the profits of the company in the years after the deal, putting them at a disadvantage compared to other whisky companies.
While the shift of focus from quality to luxury worked well for some brands it didn't work too well for Dalmore.
Fettercairn in the New Millenium
2001 - New owners Kyndal Spirits bought Whyte & Mackay from JBB Worldwide.
2002 - A new packaging is introduced for the official bottlings and the old 10yo bottling is replaced with a 12yo. The name is changed from 'Old Fettercairn' to 'Fettercairn 1824' - supposedly chosen to stress Fettercairn's long and respectable history. Hmmm.... Perhaps they simply should have hung on to the word "old" in the title?
2007 - United Spirits from Vijay Mallya buys Whyte & Mackay, its brands and distilleries.
2009 - The new owners aim for a more 'luxurious' image and introduce a 24yo, a 30yo and a 40yo whisky.
2010 - The old 12yo expression is replaced with the Fettercairn Fior - which is packaged not unlike a liqueur. The bottling does not have an age statement, but it DOES contain some peated malt...
Trivia:
- There are 14 dunnage warehouses on the distillery grounds with room for 32,000 casks of whisky
- The Fettercairn distillery has stainless steel condensers and a cast iron mash tun.
- The cooling 'system' of the spirit stills is quite unique: they simply run cold water along the sides.
- In 1995 the stainless steel condensers were replaced by condensers made of copper - which is common.
- United Spirits seemed just as eager to maximise their profits as competitors like Bacardi and Diageo. Not only did they remove the age statement from their standard expression when they changed it from 'twelve years' to 'Fior' (allowing them to use younger whisky for that bottling), but they also reduced the ABV from 43% to 42%.
from Malt Madness
The Owner: Whyte & Mackay
| Established: 1844 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Dalmore House, 310 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland G2 5RG |
| → website |
March 2009 saw John Beard, former chief executive of Bacardi Brown Forman, replace Ashwin Malik as chief executive.
In October 2009, Whyte and Mackay Master Blender Richard Paterson announced on his blog site that the 30 year old Whyte and Mackay whisky had been voted the best blended whisky in the world in two different prestigious whisky competitions.
Whyte and Mackay were sponsors of the English football team Leeds United from 2003 to 2006, but their backing did little to save the club from a financial crisis which cost them their place in the Premier League. The brand currently sponsors Edinburgh club Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League, the PDC Premier League Darts and the Force India Formula One racing team (also owned by Dr Vijay Mallya).
In 2009 the company expanded into Social Media setting up Twitter accounts for Whyte and Mackay whisky and Jura Superstition. It also launched an online and offline game comprising of Twitter and GPS updates called the Whyte and Mackay Safari Hunt.
Charles Mackay and James Whyte started a company as whisky merchants and bonded warehousemen in Glasgow in 1882. W&M Special was their first blended whisky and it was successful in the United Kingdom and other English speaking countries around the world (particularly Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States). After World War II they focused on the home market and now sell more than 1 million cases a year.
The company transcends markets including Single Malt and Blended Scotch Whiskies, Liqueurs, and Vodkas. Their brands include the W&M 13/19/22/30/40yr old blends; Dalmore, Isle of Jura, and Fettercairn Single Malts; Glayva liqueur; and Vladivar Vodka.
Whyte & Mackay Ltd is a Scottish company producing alcoholic beverages. It was founded in 1844 and is based in Glasgow, Scotland. Since May 2007 Whyte & Mackay has been owned by United Breweries Group, a large Indian conglomerate.
from Wikipedia
The Owner: Emperador
| Established: 1990 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: |
| → website |
Emperador Inc. (EMP) is a holding company which operates an integrated business of manufacturing, bottling and distributing distilled spirits and other alcoholic beverages from the Philippines and Europe.
Through Emperador Distillers, Inc. (EDI), EMP has established its identity in the Philippine alcoholic beverages business with steady growth and production of high quality liquor. EDI is the Philippines’ largest liquor company and the world’s largest brandy producer.
The consolidated product portfolio is comprised of domestic and foreign brands led by Emperador Light, Emperador Deluxe, Andy Player Whisky, Smirnoff Mule, The Bar, The Dalmore and Jura Scotch single malt whiskies, and Fundador.
In 1990, Emperador Brandy was launched as Philippines’ first brandy label. This brandy was produced through a delicate blending and aging process. The result is a brandy of distinctive aroma flavor and consistent mellow quality. One look, one sip and it becomes clear to all that Emperador is a world-class product that is easily affordable.
Through dynamic marketing and by establishing a reputation for product quality, EDI created demand for brandy in the Philippine spirits market. Emperador Brandy has now started to expand its brand footprint outside the Philippines. It holds its position as the world's largest brandy by volume and it is now being distributed in 40 countries across Asia, North America, Africa, Middle East, and Europe.
In 2010, Emperador Light was introduced in response to a growing market for alcoholic beverages with lower alcohol content and targeted the younger alcoholic beverage consumers. In 2014 and 2015, the company acquired Whyte and Mackay, and Bodegas Fundador, respectively. Through Whyte and Mackay Group Limited (WMG or Whyte and Mackay) of United Kingdom, EMP has entered the global Scotch whisky business.
WMG has a rich heritage of a Scottish spirits company, which is the fifth largest Scotch whisky manufacturer in the world, and its products are distributed in over 50 countries. And with EMP’s most recent purchase of the brandy and sherry business from Beam Suntory (Bodegas Fundador, completed in February 2016), EMP has fortified its brandy and sherry business, and has strengthened its overall liquor business.
As a global company, Emperador Inc. is now able to capitalize on its worldwide distribution network catapulting its full range of brandy and whisky products led by Emperador and Fundador brandy as well as single malt whisky The Dalmore and Jura plus Whyte & Mackay and John Barr blended whiskies.
Through Emperador Distillers, Inc. (EDI), EMP has established its identity in the Philippine alcoholic beverages business with steady growth and production of high quality liquor. EDI is the Philippines’ largest liquor company and the world’s largest brandy producer.
The consolidated product portfolio is comprised of domestic and foreign brands led by Emperador Light, Emperador Deluxe, Andy Player Whisky, Smirnoff Mule, The Bar, The Dalmore and Jura Scotch single malt whiskies, and Fundador.
In 1990, Emperador Brandy was launched as Philippines’ first brandy label. This brandy was produced through a delicate blending and aging process. The result is a brandy of distinctive aroma flavor and consistent mellow quality. One look, one sip and it becomes clear to all that Emperador is a world-class product that is easily affordable.
Through dynamic marketing and by establishing a reputation for product quality, EDI created demand for brandy in the Philippine spirits market. Emperador Brandy has now started to expand its brand footprint outside the Philippines. It holds its position as the world's largest brandy by volume and it is now being distributed in 40 countries across Asia, North America, Africa, Middle East, and Europe.
In 2010, Emperador Light was introduced in response to a growing market for alcoholic beverages with lower alcohol content and targeted the younger alcoholic beverage consumers. In 2014 and 2015, the company acquired Whyte and Mackay, and Bodegas Fundador, respectively. Through Whyte and Mackay Group Limited (WMG or Whyte and Mackay) of United Kingdom, EMP has entered the global Scotch whisky business.
WMG has a rich heritage of a Scottish spirits company, which is the fifth largest Scotch whisky manufacturer in the world, and its products are distributed in over 50 countries. And with EMP’s most recent purchase of the brandy and sherry business from Beam Suntory (Bodegas Fundador, completed in February 2016), EMP has fortified its brandy and sherry business, and has strengthened its overall liquor business.
As a global company, Emperador Inc. is now able to capitalize on its worldwide distribution network catapulting its full range of brandy and whisky products led by Emperador and Fundador brandy as well as single malt whisky The Dalmore and Jura plus Whyte & Mackay and John Barr blended whiskies.
from Emperador
The Owner: Alliance Global Group
| Established: 2006 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Quezon City |
| → website |
Alliance Global Group, Inc., styled on its logo as AllianceGlobal and also known as Alliance Global, Inc. (AGI), is a large holding company with business activities spanning the food and beverage industry (including both production and restaurant operations), gambling, and real estate development.
It is one of the largest companies based in the Philippines, and is controlled by the family of its chairman and CEO Andrew L. Tan. The company headquarters is in the Bagumbayan area of Quezon City in the Manila metropolitan area (the national capital region of the Philippines) on the island of Luzon.
Alliance Global Group is composed of several companies, including:
It is one of the largest companies based in the Philippines, and is controlled by the family of its chairman and CEO Andrew L. Tan. The company headquarters is in the Bagumbayan area of Quezon City in the Manila metropolitan area (the national capital region of the Philippines) on the island of Luzon.
Alliance Global Group is composed of several companies, including:
- Emperador, Inc. – A beverage production company best known for its Emperador brandy. As of December 2015, Emperador is also the owner of Fundador Pedro Domecq, Spain’s largest and oldest brandy, as well as three other brands, Terry Centenario, Tres Cepas, and Harveys, having acquired them from Beam Suntory. In 2014, Emperador, Inc. purchased the Scottish whisky company Whyte and Mackay from India-based United Spirits Ltd for 430m.
- The Bar Vodka
- Megaworld Corporation, the Company's Main Real Estate Arm.
- Empire East Properties / Megaworld Central Properties
- Travellers International
- McDonald's main Franchise in the Philippines.
- Global Estate Resorts Inc
from Wikipedia