200 Years Of Imagination: A Deep Dive Into Scotch Whisky's Creative Culture With Fettercairn

My name is Julie Lynn. I'm a chef, author, restaurateur on the west coast of Scotland. As a chef, one of my favourite parts of the job is finding out ways I can match up flavour with food. Now I'm starting to know my way around the whisky cabinet, but it's fair to say I do not have 200 years of experience. So that's why I'm on my way with two pals of the Cairngorms to the Fetter Cairn Distillery. I want to know how it became popular, how it has changed over the years, and why it makes my food taste different. And finally, I want to know what is next for this wondrous little lot. First, I want to find out the impact place has on the world of whisky, and who better to tell us more than Fetter Cairn's longest serving member of staff and village local distillery manager, Stuart Walker. Fetter Cairn is situated in a place called Howe the Merne, just right between Aberdeen and Undie. Beautiful, fertile land, a lovely part of the world to stay in. Just ideal for what we're doing here at the distillery. Perfect, to be honest. I've lived in or near Fetter Cairn all my life. I actually grew up on distillery roads, because I used to be aware of the guys on shifts. You'd have a chat to them as they were passing your house. You grew up knowing their families, you know, went to school with their kids. There was a whole community that's, I would say, developed around the distillery itself. I started working here in January 1990. Started as a warehouse man, made my way through production doing the mashing, the stills, and then went on for brewer, and then became manager in 2015. The place affects the characteristics of whisky in a way that, obviously, it's where the distillery is. It's the land that it's within. It's the water that comes off the hills, what the water has passed through, what type of rock has passed through to get here. Where you are and the climate you're in has a huge influence in the product that you're going to make. You go to the islands and that, you're going to get your peated malts, which is lovely whiskies, but it's different notes that they're looking for, different flavours. Whereas I would say that Highland, and probably a particular Speyside malt, you're looking for lighter, fruitier, floral notes. I think there's a huge influence on the people who've worked previously in the distillery. There's so many little tweaks and turns and little things that happen within each distillery that can only be passed down from one generation to another just by talking to each other and working alongside each other. I mean, I was lucky enough to have come here 30 years ago, and the people who learned me had been here 30 years before them. It means a lot to the town. Now the whisky's being recognised all over the world. It kind of brings people home. There's a sense of pride, but it works the other way as well, because the distillery gets huge amounts of support. There's no better ambassador than the people that live in the village. People are transported by the taste of a dram. When I drink the 12-year-old, it takes me back. I see the faces of the people that learned me the job at the distillery. I understand now what they learned me then has made me who I am. When I drink Fetterkirn, that's what I see, is the people. I'm very honoured to be part of the story of Fetterkirn. When I hand it over to the next generation, I just want it to be in a place where I know that it's going to continue maybe for another 200 years. The place, the people, the distillery, it's just, it means everything to me. Before we look at the changes that have come in the last 200 years, it makes sense to go back to whisky's illegal origins. To take us on that journey, we have a food historian on hand. Tenement Kitchens, Peter Gilchrist. The story of whisky begins in the home, or in the crofts and cottages, to be more accurate. You see, whisky was more than just a drink. It was a sacred part of ceremonies, weddings and funerals. And if the bottles ever ran dry, it was a source of immense shame. You can't underestimate the importance of whisky. You could trade it for things like rent, or even in lieu of payments for farm workers. With every new growing commodity comes an inevitable duty, taxation. In 1725, this fear was soon realised, and government officials began collecting two pence for every barrel of malt. As riots broke out across the country, distillers began quietly moving their whisky-making underground. Fetterkern, with its mountain tracks and hidden valleys, was difficult for tax collectors to navigate. But, of course, they too had an illegal distillery, nestled just outside of town, run by a tenant farmer called James Stewart. The villagers saw the tax collectors as the enemy. With secret codes and signals, the entire village would help to smuggle James's illegal whisky across the county. In the dead of night, barrelled in wagons, or even hidden in coffins. In 1824, a local landowner in Fetterkern was given the very first of Scotland's new distillery licences. He knew that he needed to find someone to become his business partner. There was one person for the job. The talented illicit distiller and community hero James Stewart, who soon became the first ever stillman at Fetterkern Distillery. Lots of things can change in the space of 200 years. To find out more about how whisky has stayed innovative, I've invited whisky writers Abby Moulton and Christy Ann Sherry round to my restaurant in Glasgow for a chat. So, I brought you some delicious food to try the whisky with. They look amazing. These look so good. Look at the colours as well. Absolutely stunning. I'm just going to go straight in with this. This is so fresh. Do you think that we're seeing more food and whisky pairings these days? Yes, I am. I think one of the great things about kind of bringing whisky to people is the element of surprise. And I always love that light bulb moment. And I think when you're pairing whisky and food, it's a really good way to introduce people to it. You get a different element of each whisky with every different dish that you try it with. I completely agree. I think sometimes whisky can have this intimidating element to it. And actually, when you just reduce it down to flavour, friends who love food and cooking, they can just understand it so much more. And there's very little barrier to pairing wine or other drinks with food. So yeah, why not whisky as well? If vodka or gin were only ever to be drunk neat, nobody would ever drink them. I think if there's one thing that has made people afraid to get into whisky, it's this idea that they have to drink it neat. Do you know what? You are absolutely right because we are starting to see quite a lot of younger generations drinking whisky in the restaurant. And it's in cocktails. It can also just be a little jam with dessert at the end. It's the fact that people are drinking less alcohol and there's quite a bit of sort of less but better. Whisky and food is definitely a way to enjoy those flavours more. So in the last 200 years, what would you say are the most important innovations that you've seen in the whisky industry? Big question. So many. I think one of them is just the advent of single malt at all and how that came to be. I think sometimes when we think about innovation, so we think about, you know, flash in the pan trends that have come about more recently, but whisky was historically blended. Yeah. So single malt's existence is pretty innovative. And what about in the modern day? What has changed in the whisky industry in recent times? I think a lot of the innovation we're seeing now is really interesting because it's almost rooted in history too. Looking at different grain varieties, bringing different varieties back or looking at fermentation and yeast strains. And I think that's adding craft. It's giving people a reason to get interested all over again. Yeah. And I think there's something really innovative as well, just as particularly in the last five or ten years, how whisky's become more diverse. You've got diversity of thought throughout the supply chain. I think that's only a good thing for whisky and it's driving so much innovation. What innovations do you want to see going forward in the future for whisky? I think we're probably seeing the beginnings of future traditions. So someone out there is doing something wild and experimental that's making people go, what is this? And actually, as much as it seems weird and wonderful to us now, somewhere in there are the foundations of future traditions. And I think that's really exciting. I absolutely love that. I feel very optimistic personally. Things like how the stories are even shipping. I think there's a lot of innovation in packaging and how whisky's communicated these days. That's maybe a step away from flavour, but I think it's very important for securing the future of whisky. It's been really great speaking to both of you because it's given me a bit of knowledge about how whisky has changed so far. And it seems like we have so much to be excited about for the next 200 years of whisky. We've looked at the innovators and now it's time to discuss the flavour that keeps us coming back for more. To do that, I'm off to Nauticus in Leith to meet whisky consultant and bar specialist, Simon Smith. Why is flavour so important to you when it comes to whisky? I think it's the first thing we should talk about when we talk about whisky. And historically, it's ironically been the last. That's how you can describe whisky to someone in a way that means something much more than say it's 18 years old or it's from this place. Because realistically, that can mean anything in terms of flavour. But what it tastes like, what it means to you and I, that's the enjoyment of whisky. And that's the bit that you can share with friends and with family and in the convivial way that whisky should be. Yeah, I think that's really important. It boils down to whether you like that flavour and that's going to keep people drinking it as well. So when it comes to drinking whisky, is there a set way to drink it? However you like it. And certain whiskies deserve certain treatments. Some whiskies do open up with a little bit of water. Some whiskies are nice with a bit of chill on them with some ice. But at the end of the day, it's whatever you prefer. There's no right or wrong. Whisky is to be enjoyed first and foremost. And however you like it, that's the way you should be drinking it. So picture the scene. I've arrived in your bar and I've never tried whisky before. How would you serve it? I would always serve it to you neat first and foremost because we can always add to, but we can't take away from. With a Pitta Cairn 16-year-old. I'm going to have a little neat dram of this just to get us started. I mean, it looks beautiful. It's a lovely colour. And what kind of flavours am I looking for? There's a couple of things in whisky that you're really looking for when you talk about flavour. And that's the distillery character. That's what the house style is. That's what kind of comes off the still. That's what a distillery aims for and is known for. And then you've got the cask influence. And to me, a good whisky is one that balances those two things. There's going to be that kind of tropical note that pervades all the way through, which is absolutely delicious. I love that. Should we try? Let's see what we both get. Blanche. Oh, that's so lovely. Delicious. You've got a nice gentle start. It's that slight punch above 40 just gives you all those nice fruity flavours really lasting on the palate. And it's still going now. You're still enjoying all that. It doesn't go anywhere. All that fruitiness is just staying with you and it's absolutely delicious. It's so delicious. So I love trying that whisky neat, but how would you work that into a cocktail? So one of the easiest ways to create a whisky cocktail is to look at the highball. It's an absolute classic. Tall, fizzy and refreshing. We're going to take the Feta Cairn 12, add some pineapple juice, some coconut water, which we know works well with pineapple. Pineapple needs bitters, which gives you that slightly savoury note and then just top it all off with soda. Give it that fizz, give it a stir and we've got a delicious, refreshing highball. Well, I'm very excited. Thank you very much, Simon. Cheers. Oh my goodness. Oh, it's so nice. It leans into the pineapple flavours that you get from Feta Cairn, but then it also kind of rounded up with that coconut water and I would have never thought to put coconut water in with whisky, but it just works so well. If you're not sure about something, whether it's going to work or not, if you make one drink and it doesn't work, it's worth the experiment. In some of the cooking that I do, I use a philosophy called Aga Aga and that just basically means to season the dish and try it up until your palate feels like it's correct. So it means you learn to kind of use your spice and your sourness and the sweetness and bitterness and umami in there to kind of create the flavour that you want. So we've had a highball. Can you show me a way that you love to drink whisky in a cocktail? We're going to look at an old fashioned, which is such a simple base recipe, which is spirit, a sweetener and bitters, normally just sugar. What I've done here is I've added to the spirit some dry vermouth, which I've infused with oregano to give it some herbal notes to kind of cut through the tropicality and give it a nice balance of savoury and sweet to the pineapple. And I've added a cumin syrup, which is a very basic roasted cumin seeds, sugar and water. Very easy to do in a pan, takes five minutes, but brings some absolutely delicious depth to this cocktail. Lovely, thank you very much. And it looks beautiful. Oh, that is just absolutely beautiful. In fact, that whisky is almost like the holding hands between the cumin and the oregano and it's flavours that you wouldn't necessarily put together, but actually the liquid really pairs it all. And a really happy marriage in that glass. Well done. I'm going back in again, it was that delicious. Now, one of the memories that I have of whisky actually was weirdly not in Scotland, but in Canada. We had a dram with some freshly brewed maple syrup and I've actually brought you that maple syrup to try. That smells delicious. It's delicious. It's a very fragrant maple. Oh, that's so nice. I mean, that just tastes like an old fashioned already. It's bringing some nice sweetness, bit of floral, bit of spice and it just shows what a small addition to whisky can really do. Where do you see the whisky industry going and how we drink it in the future? I think we're going to see a lot more younger whisky come to the market. What we've also seen is a huge depth and variety in the type of casks that are being used. We can use things like tequila casks, mezcal casks. There's a whole new world of things available to the whisky world now. And of course, all those options will just simply breed innovation. There's always these people developing and experimenting and taking what they already love and trying to take it to new and different heights. I love that. I think we're at the start of something very exciting. It's open. So we've looked at 200 years of single malt, but what about the future? To discuss that, I'm meeting with one of the minds making some imaginative moves in the world of whisky. Master whisky maker, Greg Glass. So Greg, thank you so much for having us here at Festercoon. It's so beautiful. Yeah, welcome. It's very nice. So tell us about your everyday. What does that look like here? Well, every day is very different. Usually distilling, usually filling casks as a master whisky maker. I'm also working with Stuart Walker and the team here and looking at future recipes. Oh wow, so you've got a big duty here. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty big. It's taking the best of what we have in terms of tradition and what's been laid down over the years, but also looking to the now and also the future. I heard that actually you taste in colour. That really interests me. Tell me more about that. If I pick up a cask that tends to have beautiful herbal notes, that tends to me to go towards purple and green, but it'll be a particular shade. Is it bright? Is it pastel? So my tasting notes are not generally just words, but they're also textures, colours and maybe even shapes. It's quite fascinating when you think about what point do you feel you're finished? And for me, I've never finished a whisky because it doesn't finish until after every single last drop of that whisky has been enjoyed by someone. So can you tell me more about the Scottish Oak Project? Yeah, well, the Scottish Oak Project is about local sourcing of quality Scottish oak and that's responsibly sourced. Not only that, but also to help the local sawmill industry as well as coopering skills in Scotland for full cask construction from start to finish. We're also looking at planting trees, oak trees and other trees around Scotland. And one thing I'd like to do is to show you our own Fetticairn forest that you can see here. Oh, wow. This is absolutely beautiful. And you can see that they're coming up really healthfully here. But in and amongst there, we also have some wild flowers that will be encouraged by the creation of the forest. I love that. Obviously, there's been 200 years of Fetticairn and this beautiful whisky. What do you see Fetticairn whisky looking like in 200 years time? Well, I think the future people at the distillery, the whisky makers, the distillers, managers will come up with something very surprising that we cannot see right now. But what I do know is that they'll have great pride and be making something that is beautiful and representative of the people in that continual tradition of innovation. So obviously, we're standing in and amongst the oaks. How local is everything to the distillery? We've got our water sources over here. We've also got our barley from the surrounding fields here as well. We then come to the oak. So we've got our new forest here, but we've also got our older trees that we're using that gets made into casks. But before that, it goes to the sawmill, which is within eyeshot just up here. And then it ends up at our distillery, which you can see just here. So really all within such a short distance from the distillery. It's just amazing. You can actually see all of it. We're right in and amongst it. I love it. It's a very, very lovely place to be. And one thing I'd really like to do is share some Scottish oak whisky with you. And this is actually a sample of a cask that's only just turned into a whisky. So this was filled just over three years ago into new Scottish oak. And you can see that beautiful, rich colour that we have here. So it'll be great to see what you think of that. The colour is so, so lovely. And this must be quite a unique one. Absolutely. So the particular tree itself was wind fell, and then it was toasted heavily, which brings out different characteristics, the heat treatment that we have. So slán go. So Greg, I am blown away by that. And on the nose you get those really lovely pineapple-y flavours as well. So it is a pleasure to share a glass of whisky with Greg Glass. Here is to the next 200 years of whisky. So there we have it. We've travelled from whisky's illegal origins across a couple of centuries and ended up in a forest that is preparing for the next 200 years of single malt. I set out on this journey to try and understand a little bit more about the special drink and have not been disappointed. I've seen how place impacts the very essence of the liquid, how the industry has changed and evolved over time. And I've met the people working each and every day to ensure that we can all enjoy a dram and in new and exciting ways for generations to come. With each drop of whisky, there's not just 200 years of history, but 200 years of stories, legends and ideas. And of course, the very thing that makes progress like that possible, 200 years of imagination. Cheers to that.