Family’s dram dream finally becomes a reality

A family dream to distil single malt whisky in the East Neuk of Fife becomes a reality today for the founders of Kingsbarns Distillery.

They are toasting the launch of their first flagship expression: Kingsbarns Dream to Dram.

Named to mark the Wemyss Family’s vision to bring malt whisky distilling to their Fife home, the new release is a truly local dram, having been slowly crafted with barley harvested exclusively from the golden fields of East Fife.

Dream to Dram is packaged in gentle shades of blue, gold and brown to symbolise the natural elements of the East Neuk, with a pigeon motif representing the historic ‘doocot’ (Scots for dovecot) that sits at the heart of the distillery – a restored farm steading dating back to the 1800s.

Owners William and Isabella Wemyss are gathering friends, neighbours and whisky lovers from around the world at the Distillery to celebrate and share a first taste of Dream to Dram as it is shipped global markets.

The Wemyss family has lived and worked in Fife for generations and has a longstanding passion for whisky dating back to the 19th century, continuing to  this day with their successful Wemyss Malts range. Their long held dream however was to make fine single malt whisky in Fife.

When approached by former professional Kingsbarns Golf Links caddy Douglas Clement in 2010 with the idea of converting the semi derelict B-listed farm steading at Kingsbarns into a new distillery for the ‘home of golf’, their dream began to take shape.

After a three year restoration project which carefully retained the building’s ancient features and charm, the distillery was officially opened on St Andrew’s Day 2014, with the first whisky laid down in March
2015.

Director William Wemyss with the new whisky. (Photo: Maverick Photo Agency)

The East Neuk enjoys high levels of sunshine, good soil and not too much rain, which creates the perfect growing conditions for barley. Every drop of Dream to Dram is made from barley harvested in these sun-soaked fields. The addition of pure, rich mineral water drawn from an aquifer 100 metres below the Distillery adds to the local character and light, fruity flavour profile of the whisky.

A long, slow production process in copper pot stills is at the heart of distillation: a three-five day fermentation period, wash stills that run for eight hours and a slow running spirit still with high cut points. That will never change and the stills will never run any faster.

Maturation is primarily in high calibre first fill bourbon casks (90%), sourced exclusively from Heaven Hill in Kentucky by Isabella Wemyss, with the remainder maturing in shaved, toasted and re-charred wine casks. All Kingsbarns casks are matured in warehouses not far from the distillery in Fife.

William Wemyss said: ‘This is an immensely proud day for Kingsbarns Distillery and everyone who
has been involved in turning our dream of making whisky in Fife into a reality. Dream to Dram is a
wonderful single malt that I think perfectly captures the Lowland style and the character of our East
Neuk home in Fife.

‘So much hard work, skill and dedication has gone into crafting our whisky over the past three years so my thanks and congratulations go to everyone at Kingsbarns. We’ll be raising a glass of Dream to Dram tonight to toast what I’m sure will be a most exciting future for our new whisky as we share it with drinkers around the world.’

Dream to Dram is the first generally available single malt whisky from Kingsbarns Distillery. It follows
a limited release of the exclusive ‘Founders Reserve’ for members of the Kingsbarns Distillery Founders Club in December 2018.

Dream to Dram is bottled in 70cl at 46%, RRP £44.95.

It is available from the Kingsbarns Distillery online shop and at specialist and independent outlets across the UK.