The Scottish Lowlands are known as the most populous part of Scotland hosting both of their biggest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Of the 5.3 million population of Scotland just over a million live in those two cities, so how come scotch whisky isn't as prominent near the major urban hubs of Scotland? The answer to that was the changing times for all of Scotland that led to a decline in the industry that saw its distilleries close one after another during the later 20th century. But the destiny of whisky making in the Lowlads seem to be changing again in the favor of those who love their classic Lowland styled malt whisky.
For a good part of the 21st century there seemed to be only two major single malt producers in the market for Lowland whisky, Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie. Giants such as Rosebank and Bladnoch were mothballed and laid dormant, the former even had its stills stolen one New Years Eve, and with the changing economic woes affecting the single malt scotch industry the prominence of Lowland whisky seemed to be fading away.
However, in the last year a spark of new hope has shined on Lowland whisky. But it isn't just coming from the new distilleries in Glasgow and Edinburgh nor a revival of Bladnoch and soon the return of Rosebank, it seems to be mostly coming from the region of Fife.
Fife is the third most populated region of Scotland with just over 370,000 people living in that historic country. Fife is commonly referred to as the Kingdom of Fife for its ties to the ancient monarchs of Scotland and is also the region that St. Andrews Golf Course and the University of St. Andrews, one of the oldest standing university's in the world, lies upon. However, Fife isn't known for whisky rather it is known for higher learning and a fun round of golf being one of the host courses for the British Open as well as being considered the birthplace of golf itself.
So how has Fife led this revival of Lowland whisky? Some could say that it was a very fateful coincidence that led those who cherished Scotland's ancient history to taking their distilling prowess there.
Take Lindores Abbey for example, the ancient medieval ruins hasn't distilled whisky since the 16th century but it's finally distilling again thanks to the convenience of lying right on a great source of water, the River Tay.
Another new distillery, Kingsbarns, opened on a historic farm found by a golf caddie who wanted to revive the history of the land and make some interesting whisky. It also helps that Wemyss Malts, one of the most underrated independent bottlers in Scotland who are owned by descendants of John Haig of the old Haig distillery, is helping lead this new distillery.
And now recently we have two more distilleries, Eden Mill and Daftmill, releasing their first single malt whisky and both take very unique directions to their spirit. While Daftmill looks to make a single estate traditional single malt in the style of distillers of old Eden Mill are experimenting with unique types of malted barley, from chocolate to crystal malt, and using interesting cask sizes and types to make something unique and draw customers in. However, both share a commonality in their appreciation for the history of the Kingdom of Fife with Daftmill being established on an ancient stone clad farmhouse and Eden Mill being founded on the site of an old brewery that was also founded and run by John Haig and his family back in the 19th century.
And for the future there's also InchDairnie who will hopefully have a single malt out in the next 11 years according to the stopwatch on their website.
So it seems that a newfound admiration for the history of this historic part of the Lowlands, and the help of newfound international consumers looking for the next big single malt, is bringing about a new renaissance for distilling in a region that hasn't had much distilling in the past 500 years. While new distilleries come about in Glasgow and Edinburgh such as Clydeside and Holyrood Park, a new subsection of the Lowlands is emerging in Fife and we might be seeing a return of classic styles of whisky and some brand new stuff!
Suffice to say, I'm very excited to one day try out my golf game at St. Andrews while juggling 5 different drams at the same time! But of course while drinking responsibly like we all should!
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