The earliest written reference to Scotch Whisky (or Aqua Vitae, as it was then known) appears in the Exchequer Roll 1494, mentioning a Brother John Cor, a Lindores monk, who was commissioned by King James IV to turn 8 bolls of malt into Aqua Vitae. 8 Bolls of malt amounts to around 500kg in modern terms and would have been enough to make about 400 bottles of today’s whisky.
In 2017, spirit started flowing once again from copper stills at Lindores Abbey, after a break of 523 years and the first single malt whisky will be released this year, 2021.
Lindores Abbey Distillery started working with Fife College at the end of 2020 to send their employee on the new training programme, Modern Apprenticeship in Spirit Operations, with a focus on bottle procedures.
Image by Lindores
Helen McKenzie Smith, Brand Home Manager at Lindores Abbey Distillery commented -
“This is our first apprenticeship programme with Fife College, we wanted to help give a young person a career path with the benefit of becoming an expert in the field we need. They haven’t qualified yet but the whisky officially launched in July this year and the skills our apprentice has learnt has been invaluable to us in bottling operations especially.
“Our apprentice was quite introverted and shy when he started, the difference in his demeanour since joining the apprenticeship is incredible, they are happy, focused and displaying potential leadership qualities.
“As an employer it’s great to see this and be able to offer them, thanks to the support of Fife College, the opportunity to learn a skill that we hope will set him on an interesting and rewarding career path.
“We installed a small bottling facility during lockdown and this is the area our apprentice focussed on. Bottling on site is a crucial part of sustainability initiative and so to have an apprentice learning about those specific skills, as well as distillation skills, is invaluable.”
