Kingsbarns Journal

The whisky industry is full of language and jargon that sometimes needs to just be said in, well, English! But before we delve into the different scotch whiskies you can find, however, there are a few basics to cover. To qualify as 'Scotch Whisky' the liquid must be distilled and matured in Scotland, in oak barrels under 700l and for no less than 3 years and a day. Upon bottling the whisky cannot be below 40% alcohol by volume (ABV). So here are the five main scotch whiskies you will see: Single Malt Scotch Whisky This is the king of...

It is important to us that our casks are matched to our spirit type. We have a very light and fruity spirit which easily takes on the character of the cask, but we want to be able to taste the sweet fruitiness of the spirit as well as the cask influence. We use sherry casks which have been used for many years in the “solera system” of maturation in the sherry industry, so the harsher wood character has been removed and the wood has been deeply impregnated with maturing sherry over a long time. This is in contrast to many...

We finally have honey flowing from the beehives at Kingsbarns! This is really exciting for us as we are always looking at ways to reintroduce the environment to a sense of normality when it comes to all things nature. The bees have been helping us in our new Gin Garden where botanicals we use in distillation are growing. We are determined to always look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and have home grown botanicals, pollinated by resident honey bees, is another strong step in that direction. This is a honeycomb fresh from the hive and ready to go...

Ex-bourbon casks are the mainstay of the Scotch whisky industry, and are more used than any other type of cask. They are particularly suited to the light, fruity Kingsbarns spirit as they compliment rather than mask the flavours, imparting predominantly sweetness and vanilla. In selecting our bourbon cask supplier, we were looking both for quality and consistency. We decided to buy directly from one distillery in Kentucky rather than through an intermediary who would give us casks from a range of different distilleries. As we journey down the path of learning how Kingsbarns matures, we are constantly delighted by the...