about fettercairn 18 year

Fettercairn’s 18 Year Old brings Scottish oak into the spotlight. This annual limited release matures in first-fill and refill American oak ex-bourbon casks before finishing in locally sourced Scottish oak, marking the first whisky released from the distillery’s Scottish Oak Project. The finish builds richness and depth around Fettercairn’s signature tropical fruit character, offering a taste of how native oak can shape the whisky made in its own backyard.

behind the bottle

The 2023 Fettercairn 18 Year Old is the second annual release from the distillery’s Scottish Oak Project, developed over more than a decade. The project coordinated forestry, sawmilling, seasoning, coopering and maturation, with oak sourced from three Scottish forests. It’s bottled at 46.8% ABV, non-chill filtered and without caramel colouring, making the bottle as much a study in supply chains as whisky.

flavor camp taste profile

key flavor notes

production details

Single malt Scotch whisky
Fettercairn Distillery
Fettercairn, Highlands, Scotland
46.8% ABV
18 years
100% malted barley (0 ppm)
Copper pot stills, 2 distillations
First-fill & refill ex-bourbon casks, finished in Scottish oak
None (no caramel colouring, non-chill filtered)
$380-$410ish CAD (2026)

what shapes the flavor

Wood is the headline. First-fill and refill American white oak ex-bourbon casks lay the foundation, bringing toffee, Werther’s-style butterscotch and browned apple. The whisky is then finished in casks made entirely from Scottish oak, which tends to be spicier and more tannic than American oak, adding incense, mace, walnut shell and antique wood. Eighteen years of slow oxidation build beeswax and old leather, while Fettercairn’s fruity spirit keeps dried apricots, sultanas and blood orange in the mix.

house style

Fettercairn sits in the foothills of the Cairngorms and is known for a fruit-forward, tropical-leaning spirit. Its spirit stills use a distinctive cooling ring, where water runs down the outside of the still’s neck to increase reflux and lighten the spirit. The house style pairs that fruit with rich, often unconventional cask work, and the Scottish Oak Project pushes that curiosity furthest.
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