Lindores Abbey Distillery — Lowland Single Malt Whisky

Lindores Abbey Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Newburgh, Fife, in the Lowland region of Scotland. It was founded in 2017 by Drew and Helen McKenzie Smith and is currently owned by The Lindores Distilling Co Ltd. The distillery stands beside the ruins of the historic Lindores Abbey, the site of the 1494 exchequer roll entry recording Friar John Cor's aqua vitae — the earliest surviving written reference to whisky distillation in Scotland — which has earned it a reputation as the "spiritual home of Scotch whisky."

History

Lindores Abbey was founded in 1191 by David, Earl of Huntingdon, on land beside the River Tay gifted by his brother, King William I. The Tironensian monks who settled there are believed to have distilled aqua vitae on the site for centuries. That tradition was formally documented in the Exchequer Rolls of 1494, which record a grant of "eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aquavitae" by order of King James IV — widely cited as the first written record of whisky-making in Scotland. Following the Reformation the abbey fell into ruin, and distilling at the site lapsed for more than 500 years.

The McKenzie Smith family, who had farmed the land around the ruined abbey since 1913, revived distilling on the site in 2017, building a new distillery immediately beside the abbey ruins on the banks of the Tay. The first distillation took place on 13 December 2017, using three copper pot stills (one wash still and two spirit stills) made by Forsyths of Rothes. After the statutory minimum of three years' maturation, Lindores Abbey released its first single malt, MCDXCIV — named for the year of the 1494 exchequer roll entry — in 2021. The distillery has since built out a visitor centre, shop and café on site and expanded its range, trading on its historical claim to be the birthplace of recorded Scotch whisky production.

Quick Facts

• Region: Lowland
• Founded: 2017
• Owner: The Lindores Distilling Co Ltd
• Status: Active
• Stills: 1 wash still, 2 spirit stills (Forsyths of Rothes)

Core Range

The core range is built around 1494 (MCDXCIV), the distillery's flagship single malt, released in 2021 and bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It sits alongside Nectere, a further single malt expression, and Hairst, an annual small-batch release. A Friar John Cor bottling is sold as a distillery-exclusive, available only on site. Lindores Abbey also sells an unaged New Make Spirit and an Aqua Vitae, both nods to the monastic distilling tradition the site is famous for.