Kingsbarns Distillery Unveils Its First 10 Year Old Expression

September 24, 2025

As many of you may know, we here at GreatDrams are huge fans of Kingsbarns Distillery. Seriously, they make some exceptional whisky up there and they couldn’t be any friendlier or more helpful if they tried.

As I say, I’m a huge fan of the distillery, their work, and the people themselves and they’re really helping to put Lowlands malts on the map. Located a stone’s throw away from the spiritual home of golf, St Andrews, the distillery is one steeped in golfing tradition.

While my golfing abilities aren’t exactly anything to write home about, I enjoy the sport and have even covered its links to whisky in previous blogs. I’m even more appreciative of it as, were it not for a humble golf caddie named Douglas Clement, I can’t say for certain whether this awesome family-run distillery would even be in operation today.

Naturally, when I heard they were releasing their first 10 year old dram, I knew I had to help spread the word, so here’s a quick review courtesy of yours truly.

Teeing Up for Success

Scotland is famous for many things, and its golf courses are one of them. Home to some of the world’s most amazing links courses, many of which are nestled beautifully along the coast, many consider St Andrews to be the best of the lot. In fact, let’s cut right to the chase, many keen golfers consider St Andrews to be the best course in the world. If not the best, it’s certainly up there.

St Andrews isn’t just home to amazing golf, it’s now also home to astounding whisky thanks to Kingsbarns.

Initially, the distillery came about thanks to a former golf caddie by the name of Douglas Clement. Douglas worked as a caddie at the Kingsbarns Golf Links. As part of his job, he would entertain wealthy golfers from all over the globe. As he got talking to them, he noticed that many were eager to visit a whisky distillery during their golf trip in St Andrews. When he broke the news that there weren’t any nearby, they were obviously disappointed. This gave him an idea.

He knew the area and believed a whisky distillery nearby would be hugely successful. He reached out to William Wemyss in 2012, emailing him to pitch the possibility of building a whisky distillery in Kingsbarns. William, along with his sister Isabella, ran an independent drinks company called Wemyss Malts, which would later become Wemyss Family Spirits, who now own the distillery. He loved the idea and agreed to partner up with Douglas.

Douglas, who had raised the funds through government support, as well as his wealthy golf contracts, believed he’d found the perfect spot for the distillery, situated on a rundown derelict farm located on the Cambo Estate.

In 2014, construction began, and the Kingsbarns Distillery began to take shape.

Kingsbarns 10 Year Old Whisky

It wasn’t long before the distillery was up and running. Now, we’ve been a huge fan of theirs since the very beginning, so it’s awesome to see how far they’ve come.

I feel Lowlands whisky is often overlooked in favour of Speyside and Islay expressions, and Kingsbarns look set to change that. Having spent more than a decade perfecting their signature style of malt whisky, they’re now in a position to offer something different, and something unique, never seen before at the distillery.

Kingsbarns use locally grown barley, and water drawn from right beneath the distillery. It oversees every intricate step of the whisky-making process and even features its own bonded warehouse. I’m hugely impressed that they’re able to offer their very first age statement whisky, and I truly believe that this is only the beginning for them.

Okay, so now that we know the story behind Kingsbarns, you’d probably like me to actually review the whisky, right?

Non-chill filtered, and coming in at a punchy 46% ABV, the whisky has a gorgeous light toffee colour to it which is completely natural. It has been matured in a combination of bourbon and STR (Shaved, Toasted, and Re-charred) wine casks to provide the perfect example of what a Lowlands whisky should be.

90% of its maturation time was done in ex-bourbon casks, while the final 10% was done in STR red wine casks. I’m no mathematician, but I’m pretty sure that means 9 years in bourbon casks, plus an additional 1 year in STR red wine casks, just to give it a bit of a fruity, spicy kick.

On the nose, it’s very floral with sweet undertones. You get fresh lavender, parma violet sweets, orange blossom honey, toffee apple, and clotted cream vanilla fudge. A hint of freshly baked shortbread? Perhaps.

On the palate, you get to taste firsthand, just how awesome a Lowlands dram can be. There are flavours of toffee apple, ripe peaches and apricots, evaporated milk, cinnamon buns, stem ginger, and zesty pineapple and coconut upside down cake. Some of you may even pick up sweet and spicy toasted oak notes here.

The finish is long and refined and offers an exceptional mouthfeel. There’s candied orange peel, lemon and lime zest, pumpkin spiced latte, and a touch of treacle tart. Be warned, this dram is very moreish, and at £65 a bottle, it’s worth every penny, and a whole lot more besides!

If you’d like to learn more about your favourite whiskies, or simply treat yourself to a dram or two in the process, head on over to GreatDrams.com and take a look at the diverse selection of unique whiskies we currently have in stock.

With an impressive selection of limited-edition, rare, and award-winning whisky, as well as heaps of whisky info on our blog, it’s the perfect spot for any whisky lovers out there.

Tags: First 10 Year Old ExpressionKingsbarns Distillery

Greg

My name is Greg, and I’m a brand strategy consultant, writer, speaker, host and judge specialising in premium spirits. My mission is to experience, share and inspire with everything great about whisky, whiskey, gin, beer and fine dining through my writing, my brand building and my whisky tastings.