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Whyte & Mackay debuts Fettercairn 200 Club

Whyte & Mackay has unveiled the Fettercairn 200 Club, a partnership with farmers to supply Fettercairn Distillery with 100% of its own barley to produce whisky.

Whyte & Mackay Fettercairn 200
The club will help enable Fettercairn Distillery to source 100% of barley locally

New ‘visionary programme’ Fettercairn 200 was founded with malt producer Bairds Malt.

It will see barley farmers within a 50-mile radius of Fettercairn Distillery, in North East Scotland, supplying the producer with 100% of the barley required to produce its single malt whisky, ensuring ‘end to end transparency’ of the locally-sourced barley.

Stewart Walker, distillery manager at Fettercairn Distillery, said: “We talk about being progressive and defying convention and the 200 Club truly supports this commitment.

“Working with local farmers not only supports our vital community, but also ensures the highest quality of locally-supplied barley is used in our unique distillation process while truly cementing our relationship with the land.

“We’re delighted to be looking to the future so positively and today is a landmark for the future of Fettercairn, we cannot wait to welcome our partners and visitors back to the distillery.”

Whyte & Mackay is also hoping the initiating of the club will result in the relationship strengthening between farmers and distillers, plus more innovation.

The launch of the club is part of the distillery’s ‘quest to realise its land management vision’ for the next century, and eventually enable the production of its own single-origin single malt whisky.

Nikki Cumming, senior brand manager said: “This is a really special day for us here at the distillery as an opportunity to thank the local farming community.

“At Fettercairn, we like to say the next 100 years are as important as the past. This initiative is really a true testament to this by laying the foundations and cementing relationships for future generations of whisky makers and farmers to come.”

David Innes and his son Matthew are farmers at Mains of Fordoun, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

David commented: “We’re pretty proud that we’re supplying to the distillery – it’s good to know that Fettercairn is using grain coming from the immediate area – true to its nature and the location.

“We love the idea that if you give someone a bottle of whisky, you can tell them you helped grow the barley, the raw material.

“A lot of the time farmers like us don’t really know where our barley ends up – this completes the circle in a really pleasing way and we know we are supporting the local economy too.”

Fettercairn Distillery recently redeveloped its visitor centre facilities, with a new sculpture created by land artist Rob Mulholland.

Plus, the brand undertook the replanting of Fettercairn Forest, which held 13,000 sessile quercus petraea and quercus robur oak saplings planted next to the distillery before the project was rolled out in July 2021.

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