We added a new bottle to our catalogue last month and have been delighted at the success of the launch of the Friar John Cor, The Cask Strength Congregation Batch, Chapter 1. A dram that we are exceptionally pleased with, and which is receiving absolutely fabulous feedback.

The FJC was matured in a blend of Bourbon, Monbazillac, STR, and Sherry casks. The introduction of the Monbazillac casks gives a sweetness and complexity that complements perfectly the classic Lindores style. The bottles are now released into the wild, so visit our stockists page and see where your nearest bottleshop is to pick up a bottle!

Tours and events are filling up on a daily basis now, and we are looking towards a really busy season in 2023. Daily tours start again in April, so if you are planning a visit this year, it might be an idea to book.

The Legacy Bar opened on Friday 17th February for the first of our new monthly bar nights and it was a really cracking evening with a great crowd, some good drams and lots of impromptu singing; there will be a food truck each month, we will be serenaded by musicians or a DJ and once the weather improves we will move from the intimate space of the Legacy to the rather more accommodating area of the Courtyard Bar.

We have been welcoming lots of casks owners to the distillery as they finally get to bottle their private casks, which involves lots of filling and labelling bottles for the delighted owners.

We hope to see as many of you as we can at the distillery this season!

Slàinte

Drew McKenzie Smith
Managing Director of Lindores Abbey Distillery
& Custodian of Lindores Abbey

DISTILLERY NEWS

Amazingly, our distillery is coming into its sixth year of production, and is starting to show a little bit of wear. You cannot run a Ferrari without it going in for a major service every so often! And for lovers of obscure facts, especially the person who asked this question – the Lyne arms on our spirit stills sit at an angle of 27.5°!

Alongside essential maintenance, we are catching up with some campaign bottling. As I write, Lorena is nosing and tasting fifty cask samples for some exciting single casks. Amongst this little lot, in no particular order, you will find the following type casks, all filled with our new make spirit:

• Australian Red Wine American Hoggies – a mixture of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Coonawarra region
• Australian Red Wine Rejuvenated (basically fresh red wine casks given a re-char, a personnel favourite)
• Australian Fortified Shiraz (and yes, it’s as good as it sounds)
• Australian Sweet Apera – basically Sherry, but in Australia you cannot call it sherry because it wasn’t grown in and around the area of Jerez
• Calvados – just a great cask, previously maturing 12yo Calvados from Normandy
• Rum Peats, this old chestnut – rum casks used to finish off an Islay peated whisky, refilled by us – a firm favourite of Lorena’s
• Thiron Virgin Oak – these were made in 2019 with a very strong char, the nose reminds me of very good bourbon
• Ruby Port Wine Barriques – this was the first cask type we filled in mid 2018 which was outwith our mainstay of bourbon, sherry and STR.

As with some of our oldest casks, they have a beautiful colour and nose, we are happy with how these turned out

We have also managed to get some of our product into new markets for Elliot and it’s great to hand Friar John Cor Chapter 1 over to Murray, and see the buzz happening around it in the UK. It’s not going to sit on the shelf for long, trust me. In fact I think most shops are no longer taking pre-orders as it’s all sold – just fantastic news!

Slàinte
Gary Haggart
Distillery Manager

Lindores Abbey Distillery
Abbey Road
Newburgh, Fife KY14 6HH
United Kingdom