£61.99
LINDORES ABBEY Thiron 2024 49.4%
The bottling celebrates 833 years of historic links between Lindores Abbey and l’Abbaye de Tiron. The mediaeval abbey at Thiron-Gardais (founded 1109) is the mother abbey of all Tironensian abbeys, including Lindores and Kelso. Friar John Cor was a Tironensian monk of Lindores, and it is he who was famously ordered in 1494 to make aqua vitae for the king. The spirit has been matured in red wine barriques, bourbon casks, and French virgin oak casks taken from trees grown in the Thiron-Gardais area.
Lindores places great importance on environmental preservation and has arranged for oak trees to be planted around Thiron-Gardais to replace those used to create the casks for the French bottling. The spirit (49.4% ABV) is non-chill filtered, and has initial notes of mellow vanilla, caramel syrup and baking spices, giving way to ginger and roasted chestnuts. The smoothy, silky texture is synonymous with the character of Lindores spirit. The design of the bottle pays homage to the beautiful columns and architecture of both abbeys while the cork bears the inscription “May Our Roots Be Forever Intertwined,” the same message which appears in French on a plaque gifted to the French village by the McKenzie-Smith family on a visit to Thiron.
Drew McKenzie Smith, their Managing Director and founder, commented: “This release is the first in a series of annual limited bottlings which will celebrate the links between our two great abbeys. Without the monks of Thiron-Gardais and the knowledge they passed on to the monks who founded Lindores, the story of whisky as we know it today could be entirely different. We want to pay homage to our unique history and create a wonderful spirit which showcases the mastery of the Lindores’ team’s skills.”
LINDORES ABBEY Thiron 2024 49.4%
Built as a daughter house of Kelso Abbey, Lindores Abbey was founded on the edge of Newburgh, Fife, in the late 12th century by the Earl of Huntingdon. Once visited by kings and queens, the Tironensian Abbey is now little more than an overgrown ruin. In 1912 the Abbey and a neighbouring farm was sold to John Howison, a farmer in the Carse of Gowrie, Perth and Kinross. The lands were passed down through the generations and are now owned by Howison’s great-grandson and current ‘custodian of Lindores’, Drew Mackenzie Smith and his wife, Helen.
It’s claimed that the first written reference to whisky being produced in Scotland relates to Lindores Abbey. The Exchequer Rolls of 1494 lists that, by order of King James IV, ‘eight bols malt’ be presented to Tironensian monk Friar John Cor to produce ‘aqua vitae’ – the water of life. It’s thought that Friar Cor resided at Lindores, and the Abbey has become known as the ‘spiritual home of Scotch whisky’.
Mackenzie Smith had long considered building a distillery at Lindores, and finally embarked on a £10 million project in 2013, with backing from three European investors. An excavation of the land adjacent to the Abbey – a former farm steading used as a dairy – revealed an ancient 18-metre wall just five inches below the earth’s surface.
The excavation and subsequent archaeological investigations delayed construction until July 2016. Lindores Abbey’s ‘world class’ visitor centre eventually opened to the public in October 2017, with distillation due to begin imminently.
According to Mackenzie Smith, despite Lindores’ historical roots the company has faced at least one trademark challenge from consumer brands over the use of the Abbey’s name. As such the distillery will never produce a chocolate liqueur to avoid a battle with Lindt, producer of Lindor chocolate.
| Weight | 1.5 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 12 × 40 × 12 cm |
