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Lindores Abbey MCDXCIV

malty fresh
4
(3)€48Scotland, Lowland, Single Malt

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Spicy

Taste mentions

Facts

In 1494, King James IV sent an order to Brother John Cor. The monk was to turn eight bolls of malt into aqua vitae. Cor lived at Lindores Abbey, and that entry is the earliest written record of Scotch whisky. Copper stills work again on the abbey grounds at Newburgh in Fife. MCDXCIV is the first whisky made here in over 500 years. It tastes bright and gentle: pear drops, honey, soft vanilla. Caramel and a dusting of cinnamon close it out. History is a heavy word for a bottle this easy to like.

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About the distillery

Distillery

Lindores Abbey

In Fife, in Scotland's Lowland region, Tironensian monks at Lindores Abbey were already distilling by 1494. That year, the Exchequer Rolls recorded eight bolls of malt handed to Friar John Cor, ordered by King James IV to make aqua vitae. It stands today as the earliest written record of whisky making in Scotland. The abbey itself is far older than that, founded in 1191, and once welcomed figures such as Robert the Bruce and William Wallace. Centuries later, founder Drew McKenzie Smith set out to bring distilling back to this same ground. New spirit first ran through the stills in December 2017. Three years and a day later, in December 2020, it legally became Scotch whisky. Lindores Abbey had returned to making the drink first written down within its own walls.

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9Whiskies on Distilld

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Lowland

Most popular whiskies from Lindores Abbey

About the Lindores Abbey MCDXCIV

Lindores Abbey MCDXCIV is a Lowland single malt Scotch whisky, bottled at 46%. It comes from Lindores Abbey Distillery at Newburgh in Fife, Scotland. The name is the year 1494 written in Roman numerals. That date matters here more than it would anywhere else. This was the first whisky the distillery ever released. It carries the house style: fresh, fruity and lightly sweet rather than heavy. In 1494, King James IV ordered a monk called Brother John Cor to make aqua vitae. The order asked for eight bolls of malt. Cor belonged to the abbey at Lindores, and that record is the earliest known mention of Scotch whisky. The site then fell silent for 523 years. A modern distillery now stands among the abbey ruins, and copper stills run on the site once more. Soft vanilla sits on the nose, alongside pear drops and orchard fruit. The first sip is sweeter than expected. Honey and banana arrive with a creamy texture, and fresh fruit runs through the middle. A floral note keeps everything light. Vanilla returns at the end, then hands over to caramel, gentle spice and a dusting of cinnamon. The finish is medium and delicate rather than long. Nothing here shouts. What sets Lindores Abbey MCDXCIV apart is the cask mix. Bourbon barrels, sherry casks and wine barriques all fed this release. The bourbon brings the vanilla, the sherry adds dried fruit, and the wine casks lift the sweetness. It remains the flagship of the range, and the bottling most drinkers meet first. For anyone curious about where Scotch whisky started, this is the closest thing to drinking the beginning of the story.