Whisky Focus - Ryelaw Single Grain - InchDairnie Distillery's First Whisky Release

The ingenious, highly engineered InchDairnie Distillery located at the heart of the Kingdom of Fife has released its much anticipated first whisky. Named RyeLaw, the distillery has used its sophisticated technology to extract maximum flavour from Scottish-grown rye and barley. The elegantly designed bottles of this 2017 vintage are available from today, RRP £110 (70cl/46.3% ABV).

The result of years of meticulous planning by distillery founder Ian Palmer is set to delight discerning drinkers the world over as they savour this new, luxury whisky. A single-minded approach to using innovative materials, methods and maturation practices has resulted in a spicy rye flavour that is unlike any other Scotch whisky. These include:

• 53% malted rye and 47% malted barley ground extra finely for maximum flavour extraction
   
• Cereals mashed using a Meura mash filter, one of only two used in Scotland
  Fermented using a rye-specific yeast, which results in lower yields, but higher flavour
   
• Double distilled in pot stills - not continuous distillation – the first with rare, double condensers and the second a bespoke Lomond Hill still, designed by Ian Palmer alongside stillmaker, Frilli (it is the only precision distilled rye Scotch whisky made in this way)
   
• Matured in charred new oak casks, created from trees that can be traced back to forests in the Ozark Mountains, USA

Commenting on the release of Ryelaw, industry veteran of 45+ years and InchDairnie Distillery Managing Director Ian 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."

"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." Added Scott Sneddon, Distillery Manager.

Presented in an elegantly tall bottle, with a ripple effect on one side representing the Company’s “3Ms” philosophy - innovation in materials, methods, maturation - looks like drops of water landing simultaneously, each creating its own ripple effect. The bottle’s neck is inspired by the special filter of the hammer mill. With distillation of this inaugural RyeLaw release taking place in just a single week in the whole year, only 200 casks of the ‘year one vintage’ have been bottled and made available worldwide. Subsequent vintages are already maturing in different types of cask to those from year one’s Ozark Mountains. In a field of its own, RyeLaw is free from colourings and is non-chill filtered.

With its first distillation on Christmas Day in 2015, InchDairnie Distillery has been quietly building its stocks of whisky, producing different styles, driven by the seasons. Knowledgeable whisky aficionados have been eagerly awaiting the first release of the distillery’s spirit since news of the engineer-driven, alternative approach being taken at the energy-efficient production facility started becoming public.

If you have no plans to travel in the near future you will find the current Glenfiddich domestic whisky range available from specialist online whisky shops such as The Whisky Exchange and The Whisky Shop
 

• UK Shops
   
• USA Shops
   
• European Shops

Whisky Focus