Fettercairn Distillery is heading to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this May with a balcony garden inspired by the whisky ageing process and the Cairngorms environment.
Created in partnership with garden designer May Starey, ‘Fettercairn: The Angels’ Share’ is a display paying tribute to the landscape and delicate balance of nature and craftsmanship that shapes the distillery’s Highland Single Malt.
Speaking about her concept for the Chelsea show, Starey said: “I was drawing inspiration from the distillery’s location at the foothills of Scotland’s Cairngorm mountains and wanted to show the liquid journey, from cloud to the field crop, to copper still and wooden cask, before ascending as the ‘Angels’ Share’ of liquid which is lost to condensation during the maturation process.”
UK brand manager for Fettercairn, Lucy Joss, commented: “We are thrilled to bring a piece of the Cairngorms to the Chelsea Flower Show, blending the story of our whisky with the beauty of Scotland’s flora.
“This garden is a tribute to the landscapes that shape our whisky and the delicate balance of nature and craftsmanship.”
Joss added: “We have a completely unique copper cooling ring system which was added to our stills in the 1950s. It drenches the still with water, which helps produce some of the lighter, tropical notes in our whisky.
“The cooling ring was replaced for the first time in over 40 years in 2024, letting us incorporate the previous cooling ring into the design as a physical connection to our history.
“May plans to use this as part of her own water feature, and mimic the way it works on our still. Bringing such a keystone of Fettercairn to Chelsea means so much to our whole team and May’s collaboration and creativity on this project has been truly inspiring.”
Starey brings her own blend of horticultural expertise and artistic flair to the project. With a diverse background as a DJ, picture editor and video producer, she credits her original Fine Art degree in sculpture and a childhood spent on her parents’ allotment as the foundations of her career in garden design.
The Fettercairn garden being established for the Chelsea show this year – as in previous years – incorporates native plant species, including the silver birch, which serves as habitat for the rare Kentish Glory moth, a species found in just two locations across the Scottish Highlands.
Starey’s planting also focuses on attracting pollinators, with species like Iris pseudacorus and Geums providing colour alongside real ecological benefit, supporting bees, hoverflies and dragonflies and contributing to the region’s biodiversity.
‘Fettercairn: The Angel’s Share’ will be on display at The RHS Chelsea Flower Show taking place from 20th to 24th May within the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
After the show, the balcony garden will be relocated to the distillery in the Cairngorms, where it will find a permanent home in the landscape that inspired it.
