Lindores Abbey Distillery – a Tour, Two Drams and Lunch
A few hours.
The route
Lindores Abbey Distillery stands across the lane from the ruins of a medieval abbey near Newburgh, where whisky has been made again since 2017, and its tour ends with a tasting.
Order one of its sharing platters ahead and lunch is cheese, antipasti and crusty bread at the distillery itself. It's a relaxed half day in north Fife, with a little takeaway for whoever is driving.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book the 12.30pm tour and a sharing platter at Lindores Abbey Distillery
Book the 12.30pm tour at Lindores Abbey Distillery online and order a sharing platter for after it at least 48 hours ahead: tours run every day from March to October and Wednesday to Sunday from November to February, take 12 people at most, and cost £25 a head at the time of writing.
The day
Newburgh
A tour among the copper stills in the quiet north of Fife, then a long lunch and a dram for those not driving.
About two and a half hours
Lindores Abbey Distillery
An attraction
Lindores Abbey Distillery is on Abbey Road at the eastern edge of Newburgh. Its story goes back to Friar John Cor, whom James IV ordered in the 1490s to turn eight bolls (an old Scots measure) of malt into aqua vitae. That order is the earliest written record of Scotch whisky, and the distillery stands opposite the ruins of the abbey he's said to have belonged to. Take the 12.30pm distillery tour, which follows the whisky from the barley to the three copper stills and ends with two drams; tours also run at 10am and 2.30pm. It's £25 a head at the time of writing, for 12 people at most, so book online. The driver is given a little takeaway, so nobody needs to drink and drive, and well-behaved dogs can come on the tour if the rest of the group is happy. From March to October it's open every day from 10am to 4pm, and from November to February it's shut on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Sharing platter at Lindores Abbey Distillery
Lunch
Lunch after the tour is one of the distillery's sharing platters, of cheeses, antipasti, pâté and crusty bread, £30 for two at the time of writing. Order it at least 48 hours ahead, when you book the tour. It's served at the distillery, so there's nowhere to drive on to. The visitor centre is on one level, with a lift to the bar upstairs and accessible toilets.
If it rains
The tour and lunch are both indoors, so rain only changes the view of the abbey ruins across the lane.