ralfy review 1026 - Kingsbarns Bellrock @61.1%vol:

[@DreamtoDram]

Dougie here, Kingsbarns founder, thanks so much for the review. Have fond memories of you interviewing me in the malty Doocot. Slainte. 🙏🏻

[@dominicfyfe2398]

Kingsbarns display the natural colour/non chill-filtered statement around the neck of the bottle; almost hidden bizarrely. And Lindores Abbey is another Fife distillery using locally grown barley. Much to be said for Fife to become a region in its own right.

[@stijnhintzen]

i think it says natural colour & non chill filtered on the neck label. At least, it did so on the older bottlings.

[@marcwhiskey]

I really wanted to visit here but didn't have time after my visit to St Andrews on my vacation this past Sunday. But now I know if I see Kingsbarns back home in a shop, I may want to buy the bottle

[@geerakkers2060]

Lovely distillery, Wemyss makes good quality stuff. Proven in the past and present.

[@richardgenerazio5280]

Cracked it last night Really a spectacular bottle Good review Thank you

[@Mr_Blootered]

Yes I enjoy Kingsbarn's too. Sláinte Ralfy 🤗

[@grahamokeefe9406]

Former homebrewer here. Ever since I got into whiskey, I've been wondering why distillers don't pay more attention to yeast. Good yeast strains can make a huge contribution to flavor.

[@timford8315]

I bought a bottle of Kingsbarns Doocot last year and I really enjoyed it. They are going places.

[@umami0247]

Sounds interesting for a up and comer. And certainly nothing wrong with the ABV.

[@yusufsayed1583]

Good Evening 😊 Thanks for an informative video 👏🏼 Great Review 💯 Have a great day 🙏🏽 Greetings from South Africa 🇿🇦

[@andrewjudd9001]

Can only easily purchase the 46% abv Balcomie from them, but now I will absolutely get it. I was waiting to see what you would say about the distillery currently.

[@DreamtoDram]

Bravo 🙏🏻

[@Harry-o8r4w]

Don’t, the Balcomie is dreadful

[@jasonoh6466]

Fantastic review, thank you Ralfy. Kingsbarns has been on my watchlist for awhile now and this review might just be the push I need to click the purchase button. It's like a lowland revival era now! Also, having followed you c.2015, I must say it has been some time since you've reviewed a 'malternative'. Do squeeze in a couple of Rum (with your rum hat) and Grappa reviews this year please! (:

[@davet7185]

I was lucky enough to pick up their Dream to Dram last year at an offer price and I was particularly impressed by this spirit. Only the 2nd lowland whisky I've tried, but I reckon Kingsbarns has a place in my cabinet. Theirs is a quality produced distillate Ralfy and it comes through in the tasting.....there's certainly something different that sets it aside from other whiskies; it suits my palate 😺. Great review as ever Ralfy 😃👍.

[@jfgenie]

Question here, just playing the Devil's Advocate... could local barley be grown from "generic" seeds coming from corporate multinational grain companies? I mean, the local soil and weather could play a factor in giving the harvest more taste, but the basic taste and yield would still be coming from the generic barley seed variety?

[@thewhiskybothy]

. . . yes.

[@robfut9954]

You’re correct, the locality is completely relative. What they should state is the variety of barley!

[@scottyblog]

What you said about no cameras in the still house is indeed so annoying. I can confirm that of all the distilleries I’ve visited, only Jack Daniel Distillery doesn’t allow snapshots in the still house. I took mind anyway and would again because it’s bollocks that anything would blow up. There is no documented evidence of a still house blowing up due to a camera. Shame on Jack Daniel Distillery and any other distillery that acts this way.

[@marcwhiskey]

Lagavulin did it too when I was there. But no other Islay distillery I visited did.

[@Dram_Fool]

I was there recently and picked up their new Doocot after sampling on site. A surprisingly well rounded dram!

[@GetReal521]

Very nice review, Ralfy. Also very educational.

[@wallace-bv4rl]

Ralfy I recently started following you. I’d be fascinated to find out more about open bottles changing. Just got to the stage of hearing that heavily peated bottles may go “flat” after a year or so. I try not to open too many bottles so I can finish the bottle in about six months or less. Worryingly I’m hearing from you that many bottles improve after being open. I say worryingly but really it’s good to learn, if you could dig into this topic I’d love to hear more. Thank you

[@brian6x]

Exactly... Opening the bottle and letting it oxidize vs. using Private Preserve and limit the oxidation. How do we balance the two?

[@robfut9954]

Hopefully when I finally see this near me in the US it’s at a fair price! Will try it if so

[@ryk-mp5lz]

Wemyss has been one of my favourite IB's stretching back almost 20 years, so I've been quite eager to see what they can do with their own distillery. A lot of their early offerings were admittedly a bit hit or miss, but I agree with Ralfy that they've definitely started coming into their own lately, particularly with the recent sherry cask bottlings - just speculation on my part based on the OB's & a handful of single casks that I've tried, but I think they might have had problems sourcing quality bourbon casks in the early days, hence the Dream to Dram & Doocot being a bit underwhelming. The Balcomie & Bell Rock have been leagues better, and I can't wait to see what they do in the future!

[@ninetyZeven]

Would the Fife barley there be Cuthbert and the Daftmill farm? By the way? Not?

[@Shane4Bass]

Nice haircut Ralfy!

[@farshadp6114]

Greetings Mr Ralfy and thank you for another informative review. Unfortunately, it's not available down here yet. I could locate only one online store, and they are asking $360 for it. I guess I have to wait a bit. I hope more distiriles use local stuff to boost the economy in this difficult time. I really want to support locals here, but the price of Australian single malt is just ridiculous.

[@miserablerhurensohn]

All we have here is the Kingsbarns Balcomie Single Malt. Will I be disappointed if I start there?

[@thewhiskybothy]

. . . yes.

[@davidrobin1656]

Isn’t quite a lot of barley grown in Fife? I know a lot comes from Northumbria but I thought Fife has quite an industry for it. If so ‘local barley’ could still be industrially produced barley. Not saying it is just that it, possibly, might not mean what we associate with the phrase.

[@John_Carder]

You have been using larger glasses for tasting lately. Are you trying to speed up the process of opening up the whisky?

[@thewhiskybothy]

. . . just a change !

[@AdlerDanEgoe]

artesian, dear Ralfy

[@WhiskyLoversSociety]

Now this is something that I would love to review.

[@Harry-o8r4w]

Glad this was better than the Balcomie, honestly one of the worst single malts I’ve had, I couldn’t give the bottle away at a club meet…

[@Sundre-AB]

A wee roll, No shaky - shaky! Just saying.... 😁

[@SteveHB59]

Mature Malt Masters 😎

[@Doddo13]

Always awaiting mindful mental moments but still believe that 70 pounds is too much for NAS young aged whisky from new distillery. Kilkerran heavily peated cask strength or the 12 year old version are almost 20 pounds cheaper than that!!

[@chrislawson5754]

Did I hear that quite right ? Apricots cure cancer 😯

[@scottsando8827]

Apricot kernels to be precise

[@chrislawson5754]

@@scottsando8827 no scientific proof of that either😐

[@brian6x]

Local barley....local to what? What is non-local barley?

[@peatbull3426]

Its another marketing gimmick to lift the price. They dont sleep to rip us of price. Just BS.

[@hardindr]

It it ain’t on the bottle, then it ain’t there…

[@DavidUKesb]

You can't get any more local barley than Daftmill.

[@johnoberto2659]

Im never buying a non over proof, non chill filtered spirit. Why would you? You can never go back

[@Onoelo23gf]

Couldn't stand it. Reeked of alcohol and made both my nose and eyes water. So young that it needed 50% water to sip. Didn't finish it. Not my cup of tea.

[@janpacana6293]

Only mother's milk gets a 100 grade.😀