The Visitor Centre is officially now in the busy season, with up to 130 visitors a day, and likely to continue thus till mid-September. There is always terrific feedback for all the Tour Guides in the Visitors’ Book and on TripAdvisor  and a whole host of nationalities visiting. Dogs are frequent very welcome visitors, and people are still keen to spot the Netflix famous cats!

Meantime we are pleased to see the return of our swallows. Currently returned and nesting, and getting quite noisy! Thank you to Zoe Barrie for the wonderful photograph.

We were delighted to welcome lots of familiar faces back to the distillery for another Bear Burning – an event held annually to thank our 1494 Members who helped us to start producing whisky again after a mere 500 years or so. The weather was typically Scottish and a bit dreich but everyone had a wonderful time, helped along with some lovely food, delicious drams and great music.

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

Slàinte

Drew & Helen McKenzie Smith
Custodians of Lindores Abbey

DISTILLERY NEWS

Now back in production in the distillery, we have made some slight changes to the mashing process as our recipe had drifted a bit – not in quality, but in quantity. The cost of malt has increased by 91% over the last year or so, and therefore more than ever it’s essential to get the best we can from it. Dean and the team have brought it back in line and we’re delighted to report an increase of 5% in our yield. This equates to about 20 litres for every mash.

Cask prices are also rising. A sherry butt is now costing into four figures in pounds sterling; and of course it’s vital for us to keep ourselves well supplied. We’re aware our customers enjoy some of our more unusual cask fills. Later in the year we are intending to invest in some more new casks and that will be an exciting time for all of us.

Slàinte

Gary Haggart
Distillery Manager

THE BEAR BURNING 2023

In May 2023 we once again welcomed our 1494 Members and VIP’s to Lindores Abbey Distillery to commemorate another year of whisky making, none of which would be possible without their support.

We once again celebrated by lighting the 300 foot bear which is carved out on the hill above our distillery and hosted whisky tastings, a ceilidh and enjoyed some delicious food.

The bear and ragged staff was carved into the hill to commemorate the links between the Earl of Warwick and the first Abbot of Lindores Abbey, Guido who was a cadet of the Earl.

The lighting of the bear is a truly spectacular sight and the ancient wee town of Newburgh comes to a standstill to witness it.

HOW THE BEAR GOT UP THE HILL

Until the 1970s, Newburgh pageants were held in the abbey ruins and gave way in due course to the Newburgh Festival. Those were the days of Arts Council funding for community events, and youth workers were deployed to help set up large scale dramatic reconstructions. Jim Lee takes up the tale:

‘In 1981 when the first Newburgh Festival was formed, we were looking for a logo. The previous pageants had been held in the abbey ruins, so we decided to use something connected to the abbey. We decided on the Bear with the Ragged Staff, the Coat of Arms of the Earls of Warwick.

‘That year, one of the Scottish Arts Council people came up with the idea of putting the Bear on the hill. This isn’t as easy as it sounds – you have to take account of perspective to draw it out so that it looks right from a distance. A surveyor was brought in, and he stood in the abbey ruins, communicating with others on the hill via walkie-talkie. They used pegs to set the proportions of the Bear. The outline was then marked out using lime; it was only intended to last the one year.

Unfortunately however, the wind got up; so Tommy Howison, the landowner, sent Wendell Wilkie up the hill to plough the outline before the lime was all blown away.

‘The bear was first lit up in 1986, when I helped to set up and clear up. I took over the bear burning the following year and have done so ever since. This will be my 36th year of burning the bear, and I hope to continue for a few more yet! I’m very lucky that I have a good team. Members have come and gone through the years, but they always give their time and talents to make sure that the burning is spectacular. Without them it wouldn’t happen.’

The Bear with the Ragged Staff is still seen in many places and many a pub is named after it, in its home counties of Huntingdon and Worcestershire (the boundaries having changed through the centuries).

Closer to home, you can walk up the High Street in Newburgh and see, above the Bear Tavern, the original sculpture of the Bear with the Ragged Staff from the lintel of the Abbot’s House, which was next to the Slype in the Abbey ruins.