Kingsbarns Distillery

Kingsbarns Distillery, the new single malt whisky distillery that’s getting built at Kingsbarns, near St. Andrews in the East Neuk of Fife has had me watching its progress with great interest. It is classified as being in the Lowlands whisky region of Scotland – which is good news as another single malt whisky distillery in this once vibrant region (there used to be over 30 distilleries in this region, producing in excess of 80% of all whisky produced by legal means in Scotland) is very welcome. The current “weel kent” single malt whisky distilleries in the lowlands whisky region are Auchentoshan Whisky Distillery and Glenkinchie Whisky Distillery; situated in the west and east of the country respectively.

Doug Clement, the founder of Kingsbarns Distillery is a prolific tweeter and not a day goes by without an update from Doug on the progress of the distillery’s build in the lead up to it opening in December. Doug can be found on twitter here; @KingsbarnsDist – he is well worth a follow. There is also a very informative Facebook page which, is both informative and very interesting. His enthusiasm for the project is infectious. Have a look at Doug’s blog here.

The site of the distillery is the East Newhall Farm steading which was in a perilous state when Doug got involved. Through his endeavours and commitment he was able to secure a development grant from the Scottish Government which facilitated all the building works and also the purchase of the plant and ancillary equipment. Doug also managed to get the Wemyss family involved with the project. The Wemyss family are noted blenders and bottlers of very fine Scotch Whiskies and they bring considerable experience and might to the Kingsbarns Distillery project.

This project deserves to succeed; and it will. It’s great to follow the creation and development of an idea that will bring new single malt whisky to the market that isn’t driven by one of the huge distillery companies, but by one man’s vision and determination with the help of one of Scotland’s oldest family businesses; the Wemyss family.

Well done Doug; slainte!