Thanks to robust sales and fans’ demands, Kingsbarns Distillery recently announced that the last remaining bottles of their Distillery Reserve 2021 are set to be released.
The limited-edition whisky, bottled at cask strength and priced at £65, are available directly from Kingsbarns Distillery’s online shop at https://www.kingsbarnsdistillery.com.
Isabella Wemyss, Kingsbarns’ production director, selected the first-fill, ex-bourbon barrels and first-fill shaved, toasted and re-charred red wine barriques to age this Kingsbarns spirit in.
Bottled at 61.8% ABV, Wemyss said the nose has “baking spices to the fore,” and on the palate “sticky stem ginger pudding” with a finish of “wood spice, clove and rhubarb & ginger jam.”
She said the result is a light and fruity whisky imbued with sweet spice and orange flavors.
“Our annual Distillery Reserve limited-release has been incredibly popular with our loyal Kingsbarns fans, showing the evolution of our spirit,” Wemyss explained in a prepared statement. “We’re constantly experimenting and discovering the impact of our signature cask maturations on our delicate, light spirit. It’s exciting to see each release on our distillery birthday.”
For this release, they’ve increased the ratio of shaved, toasted and re-charred casks in their signature makeup to give an indication of the ongoing maturation of the spirit.
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“We’ve retained our light and elegant distillery character, with more spice and sticky fruit notes. There’s a real balance to it, especially at such high strength,” she added. “With only a few bottles remaining we’re encouraging our fans to head to the distillery webpage or, even better, take a visit to our distillery.”
Kingsbarns began life as a farm dating back to around 1800, built by Thomas Erskine, the ninth Earl of Kellie, as part of East Newhall Farm to service the adjoining Cambo Estate.
Its centerpiece is a doocot, made with over 600 neatly formed terracotta nesting boxes which, at the time, would have housed pigeons to supply the laird’s kitchen with meat and eggs.
A three-year restoration project involving architects, engineers, designers and whisky specialists, restored this historic building into the distillery and visitor center that is now in place today, including the restored doocot in its prominent place.
The distillery itself has four washbacks and two stills designed to fit snugly into the low distillery space, using long lyne arms for maximum copper contact. The distillery has a capacity of 34 barrels a week and can produce up to 200,000 liters of alcohol a year.
Kingsbarns Distillery Reserve 2021 distiller’s notes:
- BARRELS: 60% ex-bourbon and 40% shaved, toasted and re-charred.
- NOSE: Baking spices immediately to the fore, with orange oil, vanilla pods, cherry tobacco and a touch of apricot.
- PALATE: Sticky stem ginger pudding alongside freshly grated orange zest.
- FINISH: Good length with wood spice, clove and rhubarb and ginger jam.
- ABV: 61.8%