Revived after 523 years
The Distillery at Lindores Abbey
The Spiritual Home of Scotch Whisky
Distilling was taking place on this site at least as early as 1494, although it was most probably happening long before that.
We know this because of the earliest written reference to Scotch Whisky (or Aqua Vitae, as it was then known), which appears in the Exchequer Roll of the same year. It records a Brother John Cor, a Lindores monk, who was commissioned by King James IV to turn 8 bolls of malt into Aqua Vitae.
8 Bolls of malt amounts to around 500kg in modern terms and would have been enough to make about 400 bottles of today’s whisky.
In 2017, spirit started flowing once again from copper stills at Lindores Abbey Distillery, and the first single malt whisky was released in 2021.
Learning as much as we can from the great Scottish distillers around us, past and present, and from others much further afield, we are delighted to be bringing a very modern whisky-making approach to this ancient site.
Whisky Making
Our whisky is Fife grown, malted, distilled, matured and bottled.
We currently use the Laureate strain of barley grown on local farms whose fields surround the distillery and would have originally been abbey lands. We have three copper pot stills, one large wash still and two smaller spirit stills, which allows greater copper contact in the final distillation, creating a clean and delicate flavour in the spirit.
Fermentation is happening in traditional wooden washbacks, supplied by Joseph Brown of Dufftown.
The water for our whisky comes from a borehole near the distillery, in order that we can draw from the same supply used in 1494. The Abbey was fed by several wells such as the Abbots well, the Monks well, the Bluidy well and the Witches well.
In this age of sustainability and with the aim to cut our carbon footprint, our supply chain is becoming ever more local and allows us to support local businesses.
Our first release of single malt whisky was in 2021.
Maturation
We’ve worked hard to establish relationships that enable us to source highly unique casks.
As a small, family-run distillery, we delight in the freedom we have to source a variety of casks from all over the world. This allows us to develop our incredibly versatile spirit in a unique way.
To bring everything back to Fife, we are currently constructing a new purpose-built duty-suspended warehouse for our casks to rest in, built on the land where the monks had stewardship.
Sustainability
Caring for the environment is very important to us, which is why we are going so far in our plans to reinstate the ancient gardens and orchards around the distillery.
Our aim has always been to use local malt and we now use local barley from the fields that would have originally have been abbey lands, and influenced by the yearly farming cycles and natural rhythms of the land.
28 tonne loads are delivered every 3 and a half weeks to us at the distillery, and we mill the malt ourselves on site to our own specifications.
Any draff leftover gets sent to feed the cattle on the farm from where our barley is grown, so it all goes full circle.
Cask Ownership
We are rightly proud of our award-winning New Make Spirit, and it allows us to raise the bar in terms of exclusivity, obscurity and the sense of having something truly personal and unique to offer to our cask owners.
Our Cask Ownership experience is a chance to become an integral part of Lindores Abbey Distillery’s journey as the spirit flows once again at the Spiritual Home of Scotch Whisky. You will not only be able to choose your individual cask size and flavour profile, but you will also receive invitations to exclusive cask-owner events, such as our Cask Buyers Evenings. You are even welcome to visit your cask and chat with our in-house Cask Custodian about its progress. Ultimately, owners of Private Casks will have their own unique bottling of Lindores Abbey Distillery Single Malt Whisky, which can be personalised with your name, company logo, family crest etc.
Get in touch with Matt, our dedicated full-time Cask Custodian who can give you the best insight to what to buy and when.
Distillery Tours
Learn all about the processes and history of whisky making on one of our Distillery Tours at Lindores Abbey Distillery.
Find out what goes into producing whisky, and once you’ve learned the ins and outs of distilling, you’ll be able to try two delicious drams for yourself! We even provide little takeaways for the drivers so they don’t miss out!
Distillery Tours cost £25 and everyone is welcome (we even welcome well behaved dog owners along with their four legged friends). We also offer detailed history tours of the Abbey Ruins during Spring/Summer months.
Tours are available at 10am, 12:30pm and 2:30pm (Summer Opening Hours)| Maximum 12 people
You can book online on our website.
Make A Day Of It
Why not finish off your visit with by relaxing in our Legacy Bar where you can enjoy an array of Aqua Vitae cocktails and drams, or if you are hungry, enjoy some refreshments and choose from our pre-booked Cheese & Meat Platters.
Our Legacy Bar is also the perfect place for Whisky and Chocolate tastings, hosted by our cask custodian or one of our knowledgeable tour guides. We take you through a range of drams, giving you the full tasting experience and have a number of packages to choose from, starting from £25 per person.
