The story of Fettercairn is not all that different from that of other
Scottish distilleries either, in the sense that the distillery had quite a
few owners and licensees during the 19th century, including James
Stewart & Co., Gibb, Durie & Co., James Durie and David Durie.

The Old Fettercairn distillery (a.k.a. Fettercairn or Nethermill) was
built in 1824 by Sir Alexander Ramsay and 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.

Fettercairn was silent between 1926 and 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 are closed in 1960 the
distillery enjoys 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 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 & Tomintoul become part of White & Mackay Distillers Ltd.

At the moment (March 2004) my experience with Old Fettercairn is very limited.
I've only tried three expressions so far, and I don't have proper notes on the first one.
Please drop me a line if you can spare a sample from another bottling.

Old Fettercairn 10yo (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 1995, 75cl)
Nose: No notes...
Taste: No notes...
Score: 74 points

Old Fettercairn 10yo (40.0%, OB, Bottled +/- 2000, 100cl)
Nose: Nondescript. Slightly oily. Dusty. Nuttier and maltier with time.
A lot of the character seems to have evaporated since I opened the bottle.
Taste: Sweet and malty. A hint of oil. Nutty. Peanutbutter?
Slightly watery. Some liquorice in the background. Short finish.
Score: 72 points - this bottling seems not as good as my first bottle from the early 1990's.
No top shelf candidate, but decent value. A good base for vattings as well, because it's quite 'neutral'.

Fettercairn 25yo 1970/1996 (57%, Signatory Vintage, Distilled 10/9/1970, Bottled 01/1996)
(Cask #4709, bottle #114 of 202, brought from Australia to Scotland by Craig in 2003).
Nose: appear s grainy and quite harsh at first. Over time it grew bolder and sweeter.
Slightly oily with something fishy in the background. Milk powder? Quite interesting.
Taste: At c/s it was flat and numbing. With some water more woody elements emerged.
Dry finish. I'm not really into these 'natural' malts, but Craig, Serge and Krishna liked it.
Score: 76 points - but the maniacal opinions about this bottling varied a lot.

Check out my Track Record for a complete and up-to-date overview of all 'siplings' I've tried.
 
 
 

Trivia about Old Ferttercairn: 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; all other respresentatives of the area were closed
or mothballed; Glencadam (in 2000), Glenury Royal (in 1985), Hillside - Glenesk
(in 1985), Lochside (in 1992) and North Port - Brechin (the first one in 1983).
However, the Glencadam distillery was revived again in 2003 by Angus Dundee.

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 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?