Fettercairn 33yo 1975-2009 50% Old Malt Cask Douglas Laing cask#4939

First things first, I'm sorry about the crappy photo, but that's what I get when I forget to bring my camera to the cabin, and use my cellphone instead. This one comes from a bourbon hogshead, and have previously gotten my attention because it was quite cheaper than many other old bottlings in this series. Time to see if that's just, or was this another affordable liquid treasure. The color is auburn. It smells cream cracker, butter bisquits, heather, honey, vanilla, oranges, figs, dates, vanilla curd, meringues, light perfumy, toffee, coconut oil, peppermint, marzipan, caramel. I could sit and nose this for hours, it reveals just a bit more with every new sniff. It's not a rough whisky, and it's not a massively sherried or oaky one, it's just perfectly refined in every sense of the word. Not an off-note in sight, but still massively complex due to all the layers of different light/sweet aromas.  The taste is heather again, vanilla sweetness, waxy, stearic, ginger, beetroot, banana liqueur, oaky, leather, hay. Leaves a little more to be desired. Time to add some water. Now it turns sweeter, more honey, lavender, syrup, floral, camphor, nougat, cinnamon, lime peel, sweetness and bitterness in harmony. The finish is cinnamon and peppermints, herbal lozenges too.

A bit too gentle for some, I presume, but use your time and it'll show there's magic to be found: 9



Next tasting: Port Ellen Distillery