Just before the year and decade are over, lets have another first for the blog: the first review of whisky from Kingsbarns Distillery – Dream to Dram.

Kingsbarns is a new distillery – working and producing for just 4 years old or so. It’s located in Fife in what I’d call the Golf country and is classified as a Lowlands distillery and is owned by Wemyess Malts.

Their first whisky, Kingsbarns Dream to Dram, was distilled in 2015 and bottled in 2018. 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon & 1st Fill Ex-Wine (Actually STR casks – Shaved Toasted Recharred) were used to mature it for the short period. Thankfully Wemyss Malts and Kingsbarns didn’t go the Lets-Bottle-First-Whisky-For-Million-Dollars route so we can all go ahead and try it…

Kingsbarns Dream to Dram (46%, £44.95/€39.00)

Nose: The STR casks has a clear and strong presence here with subtle winey tannins and a bit of red berries, honey and sweet vanilla coming from the active casks, barley sugar, cereals, and after a few minutes there’s lemon, pineapple, banana and soft herbal edge.

Palate: Barley sugar, pears, cereals, crisp, honey, lemon, vanilla, tannins, dry red wine, redcurrants, spicy with white pepper and mint freshness.

Finish: Short medium length, honey, vanilla, dry tannins, warm spiciness of ginger, mint and herbal freshness.

Thoughts: Not much depth at this age (weather isn’t so hot as it’s here), but it’s not a real drawback as it’s a 3 Year Old whisky after all – for this age it’s nicely balanced and pleasant to drink. Can’t wait to see how the older Kingsbarns releases will be like.