Lindores Abbey Aqua Vitae (50 mL Mini)

Distilling at Lindores Abbey began centuries ago. The earliest Aqua Vitae was made at Lindores with the earliest written reference in Scotland to Scotch Whisky (or Aqua Vitae) appearing in the Exchequer Roll in 1494.

It records a Brother John Cor, a Lindores monk, who was commissioned by King James IV to turn 8 bolls of malt into Aqua Vitae (400 bottles).

The spirit that the monks were making would have been a powerful clear spirit, made using water from the ‘Holy Burn’ and barley from the surrounding fields. 

The strong spirit would have been infused with plants and herbs that grew wild in the grounds of the Abbey, as well as other plants especially cultivated by the monks.  More exotic herbs and spices brought back from Flanders, where the monks, or their agents, traded salmon and wool with the merchants of Europe, would also have been used. 

The original Aqua Vitae would have been a fiery spirit, used as much as a medicine or tincture, as a libation.

Nose: Initial light top notes of peach and pear.

Palate: Hints of ginger, clove and cinnamon spice.

Finish: Rich, caramel sweetness and some lovely light herbal notes on the finish. Complex and rewarding.