Lindores Abbey MCDXCIV Single Malt

Lindores first public release, MCDXCIV (1494) has spent its time maturing in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and STR ex-Burgundy red wine casks. The founders boast “one of the longest wash fermentation periods in the Scotch Whisky Industry at 117 hours coupled with an unusual sister spirit stills set up helps achieve the Distillery Manager’s goal of producing a malt of remarkable character for its age. The Sister Spirit Stills “Poppy” & “Gee”, named after the owners two daughters, help enhance and refine, through additional copper contact in the spirit distillation phase, the wonderful flavours captured in the long fermentation period.” N: Instant smack of malt with creamy light toffee and praline. Mixtures of pear, stone fruit, and jammy fig. Gentler florals, chocolates maybe, and some leathery and gristy depth. Eminently enjoyable and with elements of age and youth in equal measure. P: Beautifully light and creamy with some accompanying oiliness. Clove and nutmeg spice blend seamlessly with soft caramel and baked apple. Barely sugar adds a crisp almost crunch to the texture and flavour development. A gentle balanced bitterness from dark chocolate and spritz of orange. F: Medium-long. Darker leathery depths are found here that were promised by the nose and join a rich woodiness (but not over present) and a syrupy texture with a winey fruit presence. The very core of this liquid is a clear development from the new make. The citrus, the plum, the praline and vanillin are all developed and added to by the ambitious multicask ageing to bring depth and fullness to a well balanced and generous profile. The 46% is great, and likely needed to help deliver some of the subtler notes. Some youth is found in here with a slight grist on the nose and barley sugar ‘crunch’ in the palate. But they are minor detractors, this is interesting and seemingly quite unique. Lovely stuff. Distiller whisky taste #182 [Pictured here with a graphite schist from the Foss Mine in Scotland. This silvery coloured rock is from the Ben Egach Schist Formation, a group of 800-470 million year old metamorphosed oceanic sediments. The original sedimentary rocks were metamorphosed during the Caledonian Orogeny (mountain building). The Foss Mine where this rock is from hosts inter layered graphite schists and baryte which was previously mined as a source of barium] New make: 3.25/5
Aqua Vitae Small Batch: 3.5/5 MCDXCIV: 4/5

I’ve had more than my fair share of new inaugural single malts over the years. Most were forgettable and very few memorable. I mean, at the end of the day, the inaugural malts are simply a construct of marketing, isn’t it? It’s just a new, very young , barely 3 year old single malt that a label is placed citing “inaugural “ or “first release” which drives up the demand. In my memory, the only few that were memorable were Kilchoman, Daftmill (which was a 12 yr old as inaugural ), and Bimber. There was the memorable as exceptionally bad as well—- Abhain Dearg, which reminded me of a dish made out of roadkill left out in the sun too long. This one, which I paid about $70 for “ Commemorative “ edition ( the only difference in the Commemorative vs first release was the former has the word “Commemorative “ ), falls squarely in the “ I’ll forget it by end of the week” category, like a rebound date after a long relationship that just broke. Very thin on the nose, maybe not so atypical being a Lowlander...but I’ve only had one other Lowlander—-Auchentoshan, which is also light. Palette is bread-y, dough-y, baked goods. Not getting much of the STR or wine influence. Just very light...which isn’t a bad thing...just wished it had a bit more of something else —if you’re going to be light, have a bit more floral or honey , or citrus...just light and bread-y is boring. But I get it...it’s affordable , and young, but has definite promise. I’ll come back in about 7-10 years.

Nose: Floral perfume, musk, vanilla, jasmine, honeysuckle, caramel. Adding water does not greatly change the nose. Palate: Soft but a little hot (ginger, chilli) on the arrival. Barley sugar, barley grist, sour fruit candy. Water greatly enlarges the sweetness, producing a butterscotch note and deepening the texture to an oilier, heavier style. Finish: Short. Fruit, particularly grassy lemon, fading to a bittersweet aftertaste. Water refines and sweetens the finish. This is a young, well-crafted malt that does not try to be an over-achiever, which is very welcome. It has an attractive floral/sweet and grassy lowland character that is not unlike that of Bruichladdich Classic Laddie (a quality that is almost certainly coming from the red wine barrel contribution). On the negative side it’s a little un-coordinated right now and will benefit greatly from longer maturation. If the distillery can resist the urge to mess up their very pleasant new-make spirit with fancy finishes and just let it rest quietly for a few years more this could become a really nice single malt. I liked it but was not inclined to buy a bottle until I tasted it with a dash of water, which improved every aspect of the dram. Initially I was going to rate it at 78/100 but after tasting how much it develops with dilution I’m increasing the score to 80. I look forward to trying more Lindores whiskies in the future. Tasted from a distillery sample. “Above Average” : 80/100 (3 stars)

Nose - caramel, sparkling apple cider, orange zest, sweet floral notes, vanilla, cinnamon, grass, mild ethanol burn. Taste - green apple, sweet floral notes, orange, caramel, lemon, grass, ginger, chili pepper, dry oak, cocoa, cinnamon, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short and bright with green apple, caramel, and sweet floral flavors. I received this sample in the mail today and was really excited to dive into the review. This has two qualities I very rarely experience: a first release from a brand new distillery and it’s a Lowland whisky. The nose is delicate, fruity, and floral. It’s light and fresh with a bit of baking spice, but there’s not much else going on here. The palate carries most of the same flavor, but with more sour citrus, tingly ginger, and a hint of cocoa. Overall, this is above average but not much more than that. There are some really nice aromas and flavors, but they aren’t yet fully formed. It tastes young and bright, but I bet it’ll come together really nicely with a few more years of aging. From what little experience I have with Lowland whiskies, it seems to be par for the course. Light, fruity, and unassuming. A huge thank you to @PBMichiganWolverine for sending this one along. It was really cool being able to taste a first release from a distillery that shows a lot of promise for the future.

This sample is courtesy of @PBMichiganWolverine and seems rather interesting as it’s from a new distillery in Lowlands that has aged their whisky for this bottle in a combination of sherry, bourbon and STR burgundy barrels. The nose starts with Honey Nut Cheerios then oak aged Sprite soda followed by a light sherry sulfur note with some rocky minerality, band aids and light barrel spices with low ethanol burn. The taste is a thin-medium mouthfeel starting with caramel, citrus fruits and Cheerios followed by a medium chili pepper spice and chalky powdered ginger that lingers before transitioning to light tannic oak with medium ethanol burn finishing medium length with citrus zest, Cheerios, peppercorns, powdered ginger and light oak. This is a young whisky that needs more time and the flavors from the sherry, bourbon and burgundy casks don’t really surface for me outside the sherry sulfur on the nose. There’s not a lot going on with this one besides some malt, sour fruit and spice, but the whisky is young, so that’s not surprising and it will be interesting to see how their whisky develops over the coming years. Another huge thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample of this hopeful up and coming distillery.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 9th July 2021). Nose: Sweet, orchard fruit (pears & apples), boiled sweets, caramel/toffee, vanilla Palate: Quite ‘hot’. Sour dried fruit, vanilla, spices (ginger, chilli, white pepper). There are hints of Simpkins travel sweets, too. Finish: Medium finish. Citrus and orchard fruit on the finish. Quite oaky on the aftertaste. Spirit has been matured in a combination of bourbon barrels, sherry butts and wine barriques. All of the barley used in this expression was grown within the original Abbey grounds. The first record of distillation in Scotland was at Lindores Abbey back in 1494. There were excise records from the production of Aqua Vitae (medicinal tonic) rather than whisky, but it is still an interesting exercise to start distilling again on this historic site. There’s a lot of promise in this whisky. At the moment, it’s quite ‘hot’ and a little sour on the palate, with a kick of oak on the finish. The distillers we’re aiming for a fruity style and I think they have been successful in this aim, although obviously matured in an active cask that has served to dry the finish.