Despite being a cold, dreich day last Saturday, we were in good spirits as we headed along the Fife Whisky Trail.
The first stop for my group of lovely whisky enthusiasts from the Czech Republic was Lindores Abbey Distillery. Here we enjoyed a great in-depth tour with Gary Haggart, Lindores' distiller. We were able to taste a few drams. The new make spirit, with those lovely butterscotch notes, followed by a quick group hug of one the mash tuns warmed us up before heading to the warehouse.
Lindores started distilling towards the end of 2017 and it's remarkable how the spirit has changed with just over a year in the cask. It's all about the quality!
Heading back into the distillery, we warmed up once again with a couple of drams of Aqua Vitae in The Apothecary; first neat and then with a slice of orange and some ginger ale.
After some home made soup and a platter of sandwiches followed by some great Scottish shortbread - the millionaire shortbread was definitely a winner with the group - we set off for a quick bottle stop at Fife whisky legends, Luvians.
En route to Kingsbarns Distillery, our driver, Bud, decided a drive through the middle of the Old Course at St Andrews would be far more scenic! If only it had been a sunnier day...
It was Founders' Day at Kingsbarns and the atmosphere was lively. We were in the capable hands of Karen and Michael as well as our superb guide, Ian. After another great tour, we tasted the Dream To Dram whisky - the first general release from the distillery.
After a few tasters in the shop (the Bunnahabhain and Peat Chimney went down a treat with the group as did Darnley's Gin) we needed to head back to Edinburgh.
It was a bit too cloudy to be able to fully appreciate the beautiful East Neuk coastline but I guess that just gives people a reason to return!
A drive past the distilling behemoth that is Cameronbridge really demonstrated the contrast of whisky making in Fife.
A huge thanks to all the teams for making us feel so welcome.
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