Kingsbarns 10yo
New 2025 Release Official bottling | 46% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
A pleasant stroll through a whisky field, but not much is in bloom
The Final Third
A friend of mine cancelled his annual golf day next year; this year was the last he will ever host. Meaningless to all of you reading this, but it is one of those moments when you realise you’re getting towards the end of things. The last of something.
My football days are over - I stopped this year due to everyone else my age dropping with quite alarming injuries: ruptured tendons, broken ribs and so on. I’m hurtling toward the spectre of, or the season of, the midlife crisis. Crazy clothes, fast cars, odd hobbies and the like are paving the path of my near future. Whilst I can only fight them for so long, it does make me realise that I have too many whiskies exclusively for opening on a ‘special occasion’.
I’ve long maintained that the best whiskies are the ones we share. Unless you are a sociopath or extreme introvert company, then being especially good company makes life worth living. And sharing whisky with good company is the ultimate drinking experience. Tastings, festivals, clubs and just nights with friends turn any whisky into a special occasion. The Scots even called their preferred drinking vessel a ‘Quaich’ – known as a ‘cup of friendship’. It’s not the best method for enjoying whisky, but who cares when you’re sharing it?
As I approach the latter third of my life, I realise that many of these bottles I have accumulated require the occasion to be created rather than ‘happened’ upon. Whilst the mantra ‘live every day like there is no tomorrow’ would be self-prophesying if directed towards my whisky collection, the phrase could be interpreted as ‘make every occasion a special one’. And to take it further, make an occasion so that something special can be made of it.
An old acquaintance, Ulf Buxrud, collected Macallan (we are going back several decades as Ulf is sadly no longer with us) and decided to invite his friends to share his incredible collection with one of, if not The, greatest Macallan tasting marathons ever assembled. I state he was an acquaintance as my invite never arrived, but that is not the point. The point is that Ulf took incredible delight in creating an occasion to share his collection and passion. Many others have done the same, be it on special birthdays or anniversaries, or, well, just because.
It would appear the incoming generation, Millennials, Gen Z, or whatever they are called, have little interest in booze. Damned if I’m leaving my modest stash for them to disregard or likely disrespect. When we’re gone, we’re gone, and I doubt even if you believe in an afterlife, that drinking your leftover whisky stash is high on your heavenly agenda. Reminds me of the joke of the man at the funeral who unzips his trousers and pees all over the coffin. When asked what he was doing, he replied that the deceased had asked him to pour his favourite whisky into the grave. When quizzed further as to why he was urinating on the coffin, the man replied, ‘Well, I obviously drank the whisky first, not wasting Scotch that good on a corpse.’
Ok, not the best joke, but seriously, why are we holding onto that pile of bottled nectar? Surely the joy of this product is in the opening and sharing? It would be like having a dry-docked boat or a tailored jacket left in the cupboard. Well, that’s not my intention and over however many years my bottles last, I will be opening them to mark occasions, to share and make memories. I don’t think anyone on their deathbed ever said, ‘I wish I had never opened that 30-year-old [insert whisky of choice]’.
I was with a friend in Denmark once who had a rather stunning whisky collection (dwarfing mine). ‘Open any bottle you like,’ he said. Taken aback amongst Black Bowmores, Samaroli bottlings from the 60s, Cadenhead dumpies and vintage Ardbegs, I asked why he was being so generous. ‘This is all for drinking, ’ he replied. ‘These aren’t ornaments or paintings; they are memories waiting to happen. You are here with me now, and it is time one of these bottles was opened to mark that occasion.’ A 1964 Glen Garioch was opened, and I will never forget the moment.
Opening these whiskies isn’t about being overly generous, in a way, because the real joy is in the sharing. Haven’t we all bought a bottle that we know would be appreciatively shared with a certain someone? The real gift is in the giving. I’ll likely write a feature on this, but one of whisky's problems is that it has lost sight of how it should be for sharing; For marking occasions. Rather than a tradeable commodity, something to be bought and sold and sold again. When it is shared, the sense of occasion is not in how grand the bottle or box is, but how the whisky evokes a feeling and engages the senses.
I mean: think about any great dram you’ve ever had – do you remember the texture of the wooden box it came in, the softness of the velvet lining, the quality of the label? I really hope not. I hope you remember the explosion of flavour. The delight of something unexpected or the memories that the flavours evoked. I hope the liquid wrapped you up in an embrace full of warmth, friendship and belonging. Grandiloquent, I realise, but whisky can do that to me at times. As Bertolt Brecht once said, ‘the proof is in the pudding,’ although something tells me he wasn’t referring to eating. Never did like his plays.
The next year, for my part, will be marked by opening bottles of my modest hoard and making occasions whenever and wherever I can. Let’s see how long I can eke out these bottles, but more importantly, let’s see how much joy I can get through the sharing of this magical drink.
Whisky is convivial in design and nature. It is meant to be shared – that’s why it comes in such big bottles and is drunk out of such small glasses. Get it opened, get it poured, get it enjoyed.
Get it shared.
Review
Kingsbarns 10yo, Official release, 90% ex-bourbon barrels and 10% STR (shaved, toasted and re-charred), 46% ABV
£65 and wide availability
By pure coincidence, I was chatting with Wally about Kingsbarns the day before this bottle was released. The general consensus was that the distillery had gone quiet – or at least was getting on with its business quietly. Little fanfare, representation (at least visible or on available media) or fuss. To put into context, their contemporaries like Ardnamurchan and Glasgow are whack-a-mole busy; popping up here, there and everywhere (and don’t get me wrong, they are delivering absolutely where it matters).
But incredibly, 10 years have gone by since the ribbon was cut on Kingsbarns Distillery, and here I am opening the inaugural 10-year-old. I can’t say I’ve had any earth-shattering whiskies from the distillery so far, and was a little confused by some of the distillery bottlings on the last two visits (and can I suggest they remove the new-make from the tour tasting – by all means make it available, but most folk don’t like drinking it*).
I have high expectations for this dram; however, I feel Kingsbarns was thinking long-term regarding their distillate, and 10 years is a good milestone. Also, and this really caught my attention, the cost of this bottle was £65. Now, that isn’t cheap – Glen Scotia just released a new 12-year-old, 46% at £45 on general release, but the scales and resources are not the same and I think this is within the means of most whisky drinkers. Glen Scotia, whilst requiring ongoing modernisation and improvements, didn’t have to build a distillery from scratch. I get the feeling that those making decisions within Kingsbarns have read the room. Personally, I could do without the carton the whisky came in, which would reduce costs, but I also understand that some folk hate wrapping a bottle without a box.
*Don’t write in, I know some of you like it.
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
A pleasant stroll through a whisky field, but not much is in bloom
Nose
Immediate hit of macaroon, but the sweetness softens into more of the expected soft berries (expected from the STR cask). Coconut, vanilla, and sweet oak (read ex-Bourbon). That is both of the casks talking as you would expect, but neither is dominant or heavy. The barley forward distillate of Kingsbarns is quite evident.
Honey lozenge with boiled fruit sweets – cheating a bit as a honey lozenge is a boiled sweet, just with a honey-flavoured centre. I’m not tempted to add any water, but I am also not wishing this were higher in ABV. With a bit of time, a herbaceous note comes through. Green peppers, corn oil and brown sugar and slightly buttery.
Palate
It is much creamier than I was expecting, and that butteriness definitely coats the tongue. The STR qualities seem dampened from the initial promise on the nose, but that’s ok in my book – better that than controlling everything (and the back label does state 90% ex-Bourbon and 10% STR). The barley is again quite forward, but not as sweet as I was expecting or hoping for. Still, the coconut, vanilla and oak (Bourbon notes) are all there, and whilst there is a little touch of heat in the finish, this is a very moreish dram.
The Dregs
This is a Fife whisky. It is elegant, quality and deserves its place on the map – as does Fife as a region. But that’s another story. I can taste the sunshine that Fife gets, and I can guarantee that sitting out on the east coast toasting the glorious landscape that is there, this dram would shine.
Sitting in my office on a rainy day, this whisky is not blowing me away – but then it hasn’t set out to do that. Not everything has to be a bombastic shattering of the senses. This is a whisky for pulling out amongst friends and enjoying it over a game of cards or an open fire, or whatever. It has certainly piqued my interest again in a distillery that otherwise seemed on the quiet side.
As soon as it’s appropriate, I‘ll uncork again and get it shared.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. FF
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