Kingsbarns distillery

Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Once fully matured, Kingsbarns’ whisky will be a traditional floral and fruity Lowland single malt. Although the Wemyss family intend to predominantly use first fill ex-Bourbon barrels to age its whisky, a number of different expressions are planned that can reflect the spirit’s versatility.

Map
  • Region
    Lowland
  • Production type
    Unaged spirits
  • Distillery Status
    Working

Kingsbarns History

All in all it took five years for Kingsbarns Distillery to grow from a brainwave of former golf caddie Douglas Clement into a working whisky distillery, but just 18 months to build. As with all new distilleries, regardless of the scale, working capital is a priority but something Clement had none of. What he did have, however, was a box full of business cards gathered from 13 years spent carrying bags for wealthy golfers at Kingsbarns Golf Links on the Fife coast, a few miles from St Andrews.

Realising there was no nearby whisky distillery to satisfy the curiosity of the course’s visitors, and having come across a derelict 18th century farm steading on the Cambo Estate, situated just a short distance from Kingsbarns, Clement decided to build his own.

The initial £100,000 seed capital was raised from 32 investors, many of whom were golfers Clement knew from Kingsbarns, which enabled him to secure planning permission to transform the farm steading into a working distillery. Two years of further fundraising through crowdfunding sites and government grants failed to procure the £1.6 million needed to actually build the distillery. Even when a Scottish government grant of £670,000 was given to the project in 2012, Clement still fell short of his target.

But his efforts attracted the attention of the Wemyss family, owners of Wemyss Malts, who incidentally have a historical link with the site, as the seventh Earl of Wemyss owned part of the Cambo Estate between 1759 and 1783. In January 2013, Clement sold the business to the Wemyss family.

With Clement remaining as a director, and funding now fully in place, work began on Kingsbarns distillery within six months and was up and running within 18 months.

The relatively small distillery aims to fill just 24 casks per week (140,000 litres per year), although fully matured whisky won’t be available until at least 2018.

Timeline

  • 2009 Golf caddie Douglas Clement raises £100,000 funding to begin project to build distillery near St Andrews
  • 2010 Clement receives planning permission to build a distillery on the Cambo Estate
  • 2012 A £670,000 Scottish Government grant was given to the project
  • 2013 Still in need of funding, Clement sells the company to the Wemyss family in January, remaining on board as a director. Six months later work begins on the site
  • 2014 The Kingsbarns distillery and visitors’ centre finally opens to the public on 1 December

Kingsbarns Facts

  • Capacity (mlpa) i
    0.60
  • Condenser Type i
    Shell and tube
  • Fermentation Time i
    3-5 days
  • Filling Strength i
    63.50%
  • Grist Weight (t) i
    1.1
  • Heat Source i
    Oil fired boiler
  • Malt Specification i
    Fife-grown barley
  • Malt Supplier i
    Muntons
  • Mash Tun Material i
    Stainless steel
  • New-make Strength i
    73.20%
  • Single Malt Percentage i
    100%
  • Spirit Still Charge (l) i
    4,500
  • Spirit Still Shape i
    Lamp
  • Spirit Still Size (l) i
    4,800
  • Stills i
    2
  • Warehousing i
    Off-site
  • Wash Still Charge (l) i
    7,500
  • Wash Still Shape i
    Lamp
  • Wash Still Size (l) i
    8,000
  • Washback Charge (l) i
    8,000
  • Washback Type i
    Stainless steel
  • Washbacks i
    4
  • Water Source i
    Aquifier via borehole
  • Wort Clarity i
    20
  • Yeast Type i
    Anchor

Owners

Parent company

Current owner

Previous owner

  • Douglas Clement 2009 - 2013

Contact

Address
Kingsbarns Distillery
East Newhall Farm
Kingsbarns
Fife
KY16 8QE
United Kingdom
Phone
+44 1333 451300
Visitor Opening Hours
Monday
10am to 6pm
Tuesday
10am to 6pm
Wednesday
10am to 6pm
Thursday
10am to 6pm
Friday
10am to 6pm
Saturday
10am to 6pm
Sunday
10am to 6pm

Map

See also

  • The Kingsbarns Company of Distillers The Kingsbarns Company of Distillers The Kingsbarns Company of Distillers Distiller

    Kingsbarns Company of Distillers

    Operator of the Kingsbarns distillery in Fife.

  • Cameronbridge Cameronbridge Cameronbridge Distillery & brand

    Cameronbridge

    The largest grain distillery in Europe.

  • InchDairnie InchDairnie InchDairnie Distillery

    InchDairnie

    Innovative Lowland distillery with focus on distilling seasonal flavours.

  • Burnbrae Burnbrae Burnbrae Distillery

    Burnbrae

    Could the mysterious lost distillery of Burnbrae have been a neighbour of Kennetpans and Kilbagie?

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