2024 whisky drinking started with a Lindores Abbey Tasting on Twitter for Burns night. Burns night is on the 25th January each year in celebration of the poet Robert Burns who is a very well known farmer come poet from the late 18th century. This celebration has been going on since the 5th year anniversary of his death on 21 July 1801. The key connection’s for me are that Burns was from Ayrshire indeed he lived for a while in the farm (Lochlea Farm) now housing the Lochlea distillery. His first set of works was published in Kilmarnock at his own expense and Kilmarnock would continue to be the publishing centre for his works for many years to come.

All of that is just a pre-ample to the whisky we got to sample. There was four from Lindores and I will drop feed them in here over the next couple of weeks.

MCDXCIV was the first commercially available release from Lindores and contains whiskies aged in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, STR’d ex-wine barriques. The barley was even local which is pretty cool for a whisky you can go out and buy today for under £50.

Long wash fermentation period coupled with an unusual sister spirit stills set up produces a malt of remarkable character for its age. The Sister Spirit Stills enhance and refine the wonderful flavours captured in the long fermentation period, through additional copper contact.

Official Website

Colour – just a hint of orange hue

Nose – a subtle nose which is pretty rare in younger whiskies from the newer set of distilleries. It’s not harsh but there is a mineral like limestone note and then some crab apples which have been out on the orchard floor for a few days

Palate – Taking the first sip its a sweet and sour type of whisky which is sour first and then develops into sweet. A bite of dark chocolate rewarded by vanilla and burnt sugar

Finish – Clean sharp tart lemon and some shortcrust pastry

Vital Signs

Natural Colour	Yes
Chill Filtering	No
ABV	46%
Price	Under £50
Currently Available	Yes
Affiliate Link	https://amzn.to/4c3OvRB

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of new distilleries in Scotland at the moment and I wonder how many will be around when our current run of inflation and economic uncertainty ends. However, there are three distilleries I am excited about and keen to see what they continue to release. Two are from Fife and one is from Rabbies old gaff.