Lindores Abbey Distillery
Lindores Abbey Distillery
Lindores Abbey Distillery opened in 2017 [1] and started distilling whisky again in December 2017[2]. The Lindores Abbey Farm was bought by the current owner, Drew McKenzie Smith’s grandfather in 1913 and Drew McKenzie Smith now holds the title of ‘Custodian of Lindores’[3]. Along with his wife, Helen, Drew spent two decades researching, planning and campaigning to bring a distillery back to the grounds of Lindores Abbey.
The design of the Distillery
The distillery was created by converting and enlarging the original old Abbey farm steading by Organic Architects. The glass-fronted stillroom looks directly out over Lindores Abbey which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument[4]. Local materials were used as much as possible for the build, including wood from Denmylne and stone from nearby Clatchard Quarry[5].
Archaeology
Design work on the distillery started in 2015 with a detailed site study. Before work began, an extensive archaeological dig took place around the Abbey ruins where a wall, several pieces of Medieval pottery and a 12th Century lead plumb line were discovered.
History
Distilling was taking place on this site at least as early as 1494, although it was most probably happening long before that. The earliest written reference to Scotch Whisky (or Aqua Vitae, as it was then known), appears in the Exchequer Rolls of the same year, naming Brother John Cor, a Lindores monk, who was commissioned by King James IV to turn 8 bolls of malt into Aqua Vitae[6]. 8 Bolls of malt in modern terms would have been enough to make about 1500 bottles of today’s whisky.
Brother John Cor (Johanni Cor/John Kawe) was a Tironensian monk based at Lindores Abbey in Fife. The King gave him a gift of 14 shillings on Christmas Day in 1488, and at Christmas time in 1494 Cor was given black cloth from Lille in Flanders for his livery clothes as a clerk in royal service[7]. The Tironensians were well regarded for their skills as alchemists and indeed Lindores Abbey is known as the 'Birthplace of Scotch Whisky'. Leading whisky writer Michael Jackson refers to Lindores in his book Scotland and Its Whiskies saying "For the whisky-lover, it is a pilgrimage". The monks were also well respected for their horticultural skills and it is in no small part, thanks to those skills, that Newburgh is famous to this day for its abundant and delicious orchard fruits.
Aqua Vitae
The distillery now makes their own version of Aqua Vitae, a malt spirit botanical spirit.[8]
Whisky Making
The water for the whisky comes from a borehole near the distillery, so that they can draw from the same supply used in 1494. The barley is grown in Fife, malted and then mashed in a conventional, semi-lauter tun supplied by distillery fabricators, Forsyths of Rothes. Fermentation is happening in traditional wooden washbacks, supplied by Joseph Brown of Dufftown. They have three Forsyths copper pot stills, one large wash still and two smaller spirit stills, which allows greater copper contact in the final distillation.
Visiting the Distillery
The distillery is open 7 days a week and you can take Distillery Tours and visit the stillroom and the Abbey grounds. The Distillery is also available to hire for private events and weddings.[9]
References
- ↑ https://www.historyscotland.com/news/scotch-whisky-history-revived-in-fife
- ↑ https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/12545/lindores-abbey/#/
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/17/family-life-from-farmers-to-distillers-chapel-of-love-by-the-dixie-cups-and-marmite-pasta
- ↑ http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM836
- ↑ https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/newburgh/lindoresabbeydistillery/index.html
- ↑ quoted in Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh 1877), p. ccxiv footnote; "Et per liberacionem factam Fratri Johanni Cor per preceptum compotorum rotulatoris, ut asserit, de mandato domini regis ad faciendum aquavite, infra hoc compotum viij bolle brasii."
- ↑ "Scotland and Its Whiskies". Author Michael Jackson. Page 127. Published by Duncan Baird, London
- ↑ https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/06/lindores-abbey-unveils-aqua-vitae/
- ↑ https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/06/lindores-abbey-unveils-aqua-vitae/
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