Lindores Abbey Distillery

📌 Newburgh, Fife
★★★★

We always find the history around a whisky distillery at least as interesting as the whisky itself, and nowhere more so than at Lindores Abbey Distillery. There’s no location more fitting for producing the water of life than directly opposite Lindores Abbey, where the first Scottish reference to whisky was made in 1494; as whisky writer Michael Jackson (no relation) apparently said: “For the whisky lover, it is a pilgrimage” . The finished product has only recently become available, since distilling only began in late 2017 within a broad, low range of buildings beautifully converted from an old steading. Tours usually begin with an explanation of the area’s ancient connections to whisky, followed by a trip around the production areas, and finishing with the all-important tastings – using ingredients inspired by the monks’ original recipes on our visit. The glass-fronted still house fittingly overlooks the abbey ruins.