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Made with locally-grown barley and our own water, the foundation of our whisky is our new make spirit. Mindful of balance, we pair the spirit with the wood, marrying it with selected casks in line with our distillery’s wood policy. Released in 2019, our first single malt ‘Dream to Dram’ set the scene for our vision as whisky makers. This light and floral single malt embodies the beginnings of the signature Kingsbarns style – a celebration of process and a taste of things to come. As we continue our journey as a young distillery, we’re committed to remain true to our Lowland home, our people and our independent spirit.
Our distillery is located on the outskirts of the centuries-old village of Kingsbarns, in the East Neuk of Fife on Scotland’s East Coast. Originally an agricultural settlement, the origins of the Kingsbarns name comes from the area being the location of the barns used to store grain before being moved to Falkland Palace, a historic royal residence of Kings and Queens, just a few miles away.
This agricultural story continues today, the fields surrounding our distillery continue to be used for farming, including of course, the barley which is grown for our single malt. For those familiar with Scottish golf, we‘re located close to St Andrews and not far away from some of Scotland’s best golf courses. These include our namesake, the Kingsbarns Golf Links, which is next door to our distillery
At Kingsbarns Distillery, our character is defined by our signature blend of single malts matured in 90% ex-Bourbon and 10% STR (shaved, toasted and re-charred) casks. ‘Dream to Dram’ was our distillery’s first expression, earning praise for its distinctive light and fruity character. In 2020, The World Whisky Awards named it World’s Best Lowlands Single Malt; incredible recognition for our team’s ethos and approach.
In 2023, having had more time to mature in casks, we proudly introduced our new flagship expression ‘Doocot’. Representing the next stage in our distillery’s journey, the additional time in cask has allowed this whisky to develop in complexity whilst retaining balance. Moving forward, ‘Doocot’ will be at the heart of our core range for years to come.
The quality and consistency of our ingredients is essential to achieving our signature Lowland single malt flavour profile. There are only three ingredients in Single Malt Scotch Whisky: barley, water and yeast.
Barley has been grown in Fife for almost a thousand years. At Kingsbarns we are proud to source all of our barley from local farms, supporting British Farmers in a sustainable way. Utilising all that Fife has to offer is at the forefront of our whisky mission.
We are dedicated to creating a whisky that is in harmony with its surroundings and is shaped by the landscape. Filtered through 300-million-year-old sandstone; our distillery’s own aquifer provides the pure water for our whisky and our visitor centre.
We have carefully selected two strains of yeast – one British, the other French - to create the distillery’s fruity and light Lowland style of spirit.
Genuinely artisan in our approach, we produce around 300,000L of new make spirit annually, which equates to filling around 48 barrels per week.
We know not to rush things. We allow a particularly long fermentation process of between 3 to 5 days to develop the fruity Lowland characteristics we’re looking for.
The shape of the stills is often overlooked, but plays a vital role in developing the character of the final spirit. At Kingsbarns, the height and depth of the stills and the angle of the lyne arm have all been designed to produce a lighter, fruitier spirit. Our copper pot distillation utilises an extremely high cut point to ensure purity of flavour.
Each small batch of our new make spirit is painstakingly matched with carefully selected casks to mature and develop into Kingsbarns Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
From the outset, our vision at Kingsbarns Distillery was to create a light and floral style single malt Scotch with a characteristic Lowland style profile.
Our signature elegant Lowland style informs every single cask we fill. The light and fruity spirit created by Peter Holroyd, our Distillery Manager, is perfectly complemented by the casks selected by our Production Director, Isabella Wemyss. These delicate casks are sourced from America, Portugal, France and Spain.
Distilled from Fife-grown barley, our slow-fermented small-batch new make spirit is clean, light and complex. Our distillery’s signature profile elegantly balances orchard fruit with light floral, citrus and tropical notes. Through cask maturation, it gains vanilla, delicate spice and soft sweetness.
Whisky must be aged in oak casks for a minimum duration of 3 years and a day to be classed as whisky. An innate understanding of the unique characteristics of each cask and its interaction with the spirit during maturation allows us to enhance and add complexity, but never overwhelm or subdue.
Our distilling process is as circular as it can be. Spent mash grain from distilling is taken to feed local cattle. Water, drawn from the aquifer under the distillery goes back into the land, filtered naturally through reed beds beside the distillery.
We’re proud that our entire site at Kingsbarns Distillery and Visitor Centre are powered by 100% green renewable energy.
Whether it’s innovation in packaging, or reducing emissions, we know that more can be done. In 2024 we began phasing out our presentation boxes, embracing a minimalist approach that reduces waste. We’ve also adopted electric vehicles to further lower our emissions, setting new standards in sustainable spirits production.
In a few short years, we’ve garnered nearly 30 well-respected industry medals including best Lowlands Single Malt for our inaugural release ‘Dream to Dram’ at the World Whisky Awards in 2020 and 2022. As a young distillery we’re proud to have gained recognition for our process and quality.
Book an immersive distillery tour to experience the sights and smells of our distilling process and get a guided tasting of our flagship malts.
