A NEW Fife distillery established by industry veteran Ian Palmer has unveiled its maiden release.

InchDairnie Distillery has announced its arrival with a 2017 vintage rye whisky, which will be available at selected retailers such as Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, and Fortnum & Mason. RyeLaw will have a recommended retail price of £110 for a 70cl bottle.

The launch comes after years of planning by Mr Palmer, an industry veteran of more than 45 years, who adopted innovative technology to extract maximum flavour from Scottish-grown rye and barley.

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The distillery said it used innovative materials, methods, and maturation practices to deliver a spicy rye flavour, which is based on 53 per cent malted rye and 47% malted barley ground extra finely for maximum flavour extraction.

Cereals were mashed in a Meura mash filter, one of only two used in Scotland, while a rye-specific yeast was used for fermentation, resulting in lower yields and higher flavour. The spirit was doubled distilled in pot stills, rather than continuously distilled, the first with rare, double condensers, and the second a bespoke Lomond Hill still, designed by Mr Palmer with stillmaker Frilli.

Maturation took place in charred new casks from trees that can be traced back to the forests of the Ozark Mountains in the US.

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Only 200 casks of the year-one vintage, which is free from colourings and non-chill filtered, have been bottled and made available worldwide.

Mr Palmer said: “We’ve been preparing for this day for well over a decade, and it is only now that we feel the quality of RyeLaw meets our exacting standards that we are putting it into bottles. And what a whisky it is... While we are rooted in Scotch whisky tradition, we have explored what is possible when agriculture meets industry and innovative technologies combine with methodology, to create a superb rye whisky that is sure to excite palates.”

Distillery manager Scott Sneddon said: “The rye spiciness with vanilla, sweet biscuit cereal and dried fruit notes seem much more defined than rye whiskeys from America we’ve compared it to. There’s a richer, more luxurious mouthfeel and great balance, which are certainly helped by the favourable maturation conditions we have in Fife compared to Kentucky. 

“The use of malted rye in the mash means we have a softer, more sippable style of rye whisky. We look forward to hearing if our American cousins agree.”