October and November mean only one thing for us – whisky show season! We were over to Warsaw to host a stand at Whisky Live Poland last week and then The Hague at Whisky Live Netherlands, our UK Team are at a show in the UK nearly every weekend and Elliot recently visited Denmark, and then a whistle-stop tour of Canada!
Things are a little quieter at the Visitor Centre at this time of year, but we are celebrating our success in gaining 5 stars on Trip Advisor recently, a great testament to all the Brand Home team.
The bottling hall team are flat out with the Christmas rush, and glad to have Illia and Kateryna back from the Ukraine to join them. The distillery team are whizzing along nicely too and should be rightly proud of their recent gold medal in the prestigious Scottish Field Whisky Awards, presented in the best whisky in the under £50 section for their STR cask. Well done indeed.
Finally, we were pleased to receive the keys to our enormous new warehouses. This lovely joint project between local farmers Richard and Anna Black, who also grow half of our barley, is another step towards reducing our carbon footprint. On that note, Ross is busy in the orchards planting additional trees in a bid to offset some of the emissions that we on the sales team are inevitably creating, whilst on our travels promoting the Lindores Brand.
Finally, have a fantastic Christmas and New Year and we will be in touch again in 2023!
Slàinte
Drew and Helen McKenzie Smith
Custodians of Lindores Abbey Distillery
DISTILLERY NEWS
This month we are talking about Business as Usual; Peat; and our Sherry Butt Market Exclusive!
BUSINESS AS USUAL: The distillery is busy as always, with the team battling ever onwards to eke out maximum sugar from our local Lindores malted barley. However, the quest for long chain sugars adds a new dimension! Lorena has been fortunate to get her nose in front of some great casks recently, all of which have, up till final disgorge, been in the following casks: Manzanilla Sherry Butt, Pedro Ximenes Butt, Calvados Wine Barrique, and PX / Oloroso / Amontillado STRs. The STRs are wine barriques that have been seasoned for a minimum of two years with 12 year old PX, Oloroso and Amontillado, initially bought as an experiment. But wow, do they work!
We are approaching our second major cask milestone, in which we will have 5yo single malt Scotch whisky maturing in our warehouses, but in the mean time our core team of bottlers (that’s people that bottle our whisky – not sportspeople who miss a 12” putt to win the Open!) do a tremendous job of making sure our goods go on time and in full.
PEAT, PEATY, PEAT! Not a single week passes without the subject of peated malt being brought up in conversation, so I thought I would talk a little more on the subject. At Lindores we do not use peated malt – but believe it or not, it was considered as part of the original mash bill! What we have done is to put our spirit into Ex Islay Peated Casks, so these are casks that have been emptied of Single Malt Whisky from Distilleries on Islay. You can tell what distillery they have come from by the nose; yes, they are peaty/smoky, but each has its own distillery uniqueness. So far, we have bottled a few of these casks: Rum/Peat ASB’s, Peated Sherry Hogsheads and a few quarter casks. The last quarter cask that went through as a distillery exclusive was highly applauded.
Then a question was posed to me via Matt, our Whisky Ambassador: ‘How much Phenol PPM ( Parts per million ) was present in the Quarter Cask Distillery bottling?’ (and I’m sorry to say this is all sold out). A great question and one I wanted an answer to! So, we delivered a sample to Tatlock & Thomson and awaited the results – what came back was a surprise, because the spirit had 2.4ppm. This may not sound a lot but let me put it into context. When the distilleries on Islay talk about Phenol PPM they are talking about the PPM of the peated malted barley, before it has been milled, mashed, fermented, distilled and matured. This value can be anywhere from 50-80ppm on Islay, but by the time it’s through the process the ppm of the liquid can be between 25 – 40ppm. Give it ten years and it can be down to 8- 10ppm. Closer to 30 years and its nearer 6ppm – so you can see why even though we only have 2.5ppm coming directly from the previous contents, the phenols can act up to 10% of the original character of whisky. It’s also at a level which we feel brings balance to our spirit; the distillery DNA still shines through. So still at this time we have no plan to put through peated malt but will continue to use Ex Islay Peated Casks. Why? Because it works.
SHERRY BUTT MARKET EXCLUSIVE: I want to finish on the Casks Of Lindores Oloroso Sherry Butt Market Exclusive bottling, the last of the current trilogy. There have been a few comments on its colour and a few references which I enjoy, one in particular being, ‘you can lighten it with Coca Cola’. In this day of Caramel addition and chill filtration I just wanted to reassure everyone that this bottling has seen neither of those. We are lucky in that the sherry butts from the bodega are normally here within 48 hrs; they are fresh, and seasoned well. Dr Jim Swan specified that Lindores should get well aged sherry butts that are then seasoned, not fresh wood that is then seasoned – a big difference from what others may use. The butts are transported with liquid in them; we always make sure there is not excessive liquid in the butt before filling but simply that the cask is completely wet on the inside, but the proof is in the pudding. Get past the colour and indulge your senses, and here you will find a top whisky. It’s been described as murky, from the dark side, the deep reds, rich fruits, pepper, jams – it’s not a sherry bomb, yes it may look like one but it’s not, it’s different and it’s all the better for it!
Slàinte
Gary Haggart
Distillery Manager
CASKS OF LINDORES SHERRY BUTT
The last release in our Casks of Lindores series, a Casks of Lindores Sherry Butt, was released on the 7th October, once again exclusively through selected stockists.
So get in contact with your favourite local independent specialist bottle shop to find out how and when you can get hold of a bottle!
Why are we only selling it to the public via stockists? Well, we wanted to re-pay our stockists who have supported us from the beginning and the last couple of years has been hard for them as well so one way of helping was to only sell our Casks of Lindores series through them rather than keeping it for ourselves.
STOCKISTS
WHISKY FLIGHTS
Lots of you have been asking for WHISKY FLIGHTS, and we are very happy to oblige! These tastings can be enjoyed at your own leisure, or you may wish to be guided through your selections by one of our Tasting Team (we would recommend you pre-book the tutored tastings).
Choose from:
– Introduction to Lindores: 3 x Lindores Drams (New Make Spirit, Aqua Vitae, MCDXCIV Whisky). Learn about the building blocks of Lindores, starting with our award winning new make before sampling the unique Aqua Vitae, our first product before finishing with the very first Lindores Abbey Distillery Single Malt Scotch Whisky. £12.50pp or £20.00pp (Tutored)
– Casks of Lindores Flight: 3 x Lindores Drams (Casks of Lindores Bourbon, STR and Sherry). A unique chance to taste 3 bottlings released exclusively for the Retail Industry that showcase the core cask types that we use here at Lindores Abbey Distillery. £27.00pp or £34.00pp (Tutored)
– Distillery Exclusive Single Casks: 3 x Lindores Drams. Any 3 of our Distillery Exclusive Single Cask Bottlings. We have a range of Exclusive Single Casks available for purchase exclusively here at Lindores Visitor Centre. Most of these are now sold out in the shop but we have kept some back to offer you the chance to explore these exciting releases. £35.00pp or £42.00pp (Tutored)
– The Wee Distillery Casks: 3 x Lindores Drams. Any 3 of our Wee Distillery Exclusive Single Cask Firkin Bottlings. Like the Single Cask Bottlings we have released a selection of very exclusive Firkin cask bottlings that are extremely limited in number and again we have kept a few of each to allow you the opportunity to explore these interesting and unique spirits. £40.00pp or £47.00pp (Tutored)
Strictly over 18’s | If you have any questions at all or would prefer to design your own specific tasting we are more than happy to offer any assistance you require.
FIND OUT MORE
CHRISTMAS PARTY NIGHT – 17TH DECEMBER
If you are looking for somewhere unusual to host your Christmas Party or just fancy a night out with friends, then our Christmas party night is for you.
Our Party Night kicks off at 7.30pm with a drink on arrival. With a Disco & Ceilidh by the The Reel Stramash and Catering from HmbStreetFood a great night out is guaranteed.
Dress code for the evening is smart casual, but if your party would like to dress up – feel free!
Over 18’s only | Buy tickets online. £20 per person | Tickets must be bought online they cannot be bought from the Visitor Centre or over the phone.
BUY TICKETS
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Not only will we be offering you the exclusive chance to bottle your own personalised Aqua Vitae 20cl bottles at our Christmas Market on the 3rd December (FREE entry 12pm-6pm), we will also be releasing a DISTILLERY EXCLUSIVE Sherry Hogshead cask on the day.
Each 70cl bottle of this high scoring scotch whisky will be priced at £69.00 – Cask #507/2018 @ 57.8%abv. This bottle will not be available online.
TASTING NOTES: Nose – Fruity mellow raisins & apples with oranges notes | Taste – Sweet oranges combined with raisins and nutty almonds. Layers of spice cinnamon comes on the palate | Finish: Medium length | Colour: Deep Gold | Score: 8.5
