Fettercairn have launched a range of new whiskies inspired by whisky maker Gregg Glass’ experiences with synaesthesia and ideas about how we explore flavour through different senses. As part of the release, Fettercairn have also collaborated with top Scottish musical artists to create an accompanying piece of music.
Synaesthesia is where one sense stimulates another sensory response in a different part of the body. A typical synaesthetic experience might be something like certain sounds having strong associations with a particular colour, or seeing shapes when encountering scents.
For Gregg Glass, he has the ability to ‘taste in colour’. This has led to him exploring the relationship between flavour and other senses and the impact this could have whisky making.
Glass explained: “In the development of any whisky, it’s a new experience. I tend to pick up sensory elements, particularly linking colour and texture to the flavour and character of the whisky. I capture that in my tasting notes, which show how the colours I experience change as the flavour of the whisky evolves.”
From these experiences The Vanguard Series was born - a three-year series of different releases that celebrate the more experimental side of whisky production.
Explaining the process behind creating these whiskies, Glass added: “In the development of Vanguard, I’d always listen to a huge range of music, which can have a huge influence on how I experience flavour.
“The Vanguard series explores what’s possible within whisky. We’ve been looking to create the ideal way of delivering layers of flavour in these whiskies: which casks we select, the components of those casks, what character they bring, and how they will evolve our house style in new and exciting ways. The series represents the distillery’s commitment to flavour-led whisky making and boundary-pushing innovation.”
The inaugural releases from The Vanguard Series features two single malts: a non-age statement whisky and an impressive 29 year old.
The Vanguard 29 Year Old is a 1995 vintage that spent 25 years in a refill Bourbon hogshead before a long finishing period in an ‘exceptionally rare’ French pink oak cask from the Demptos cooperage in Bordeaux.
Pink oak is noted for its high level of carotenoids. These pigments are typically associated with giving plants and algae their distinctive yellow, orange, or red colouring, but when it comes to wood they are responsible for adding elegant fruit and floral notes to a spirit.
Only 99 bottles have been made available. Bottled at 48.3% ABV, the 29 year old is said to truly showcase Fettercairn’s tropical house style with sweeter notes of strawberries coming from the pink oak.
Joining this is the Vanguard 1st Release. This whisky was finished in unique hybrid casks crafted in collaboration with Speyside Cooperage. American oak staves were used for the main body of these casks, while toasted Scottish oak (made from naturally wind-felled Scottish oak trees) was used to make cask ends.
Initial maturation in ex-bourbon barrels has allowed Fettercairn’s house style to come into its own, while the hybrid casks add distinctly warming, spicy notes to the final whisky.
Both of The Vanguard Series are available now from the distillery or selected retailers. The Vanguard 1st Release has an RRP of £100 while the 29 year old sells for around £2,500.
Glass mentioned how he listened to music as The Vanguard Series came together, which makes the resulting collaboration with two of Scotland’s most notable musicians a natural fit.
Fettercairn enlisted the help of multi-award winning singer-songwriter Kathryn Joseph and Barry Burns, from Glasgow instrumental rock group Mogwai, to create a piece of work based on Gregg Glass’ tasting notes for The Vanguard whiskies.
Speaking on the experience, Burns said: “The opportunity to work with Gregg and the rest of the Fettercairn team felt like a genuine collaboration, and it’s really interesting what they are trying to do with this release.
“Kathryn and I have toured together, and know each other well, but it was a fantastic opportunity for us to collaborate on a unique piece of music. We had a lot of fun taking inspiration from the colours and shapes of Gregg’s tasting notes, but understanding what he was listening to and inspired by when he was making the whisky, which we had the privilege to sample.”
Joseph added: “I loved working with Barry on this. He is the best and I am very lucky. Meeting Gregg and seeing and hearing how much he cares about what he does was beautiful. It felt very quickly like all the elements of this made sense to me: how Gregg sees and hears the colours of the tastes, the beautiful stills of the visuals and the way that Barry is able to turn everything into perfect beauty.”
The result of the collaboration is a song called ‘Lorica Pink’, which is available to stream now on various streaming site. To what extent it truly captures the character of the whisky is for you to decide. Pour yourself a dram, fire up the streaming platform of your choice, and let yourself experience the dynamic relationships between your senses…
Fettercairn collaborating with Barry Burns and Kathryn Joseph is just the latest example of a distillery partnering with contemporary musicians to create a piece of whisky-inspired music.
Last month Glendronach enlisted cellist Rob Lewis to compose a piece that reflects the intricacies of a dram while evoking certain elements of the production process. You read more about this experience in our recent article ‘Highland Distillery Pairs Drams with Music.’
