Fife distillery relaunches 'pay what you like' visitor experiences for new year

Introduced as a pilot back in December 2022 and limited to Sundays, the visitor initiative is now back and enhanced with two daily tours – whisky and gin - running seven days a week from Monday to Sunday until the end of February.

During their visit, guests are guided through the Wemyss family owned distillery’s exhibition space, delving into the history and heritage of the Kingsbarns brand, learning insights into the production process of whisky and the art of gin distillation.

The tours culminate with a sampling of Kingsbarns’ malts or Darnley’s gin. Visitors are open to pay nothing or contribute to the experience as they see fit.

Andrea Morris, visitor engagement manager , said: “When we first launched Pay-As-You-Like, it was available on a Sunday only and was limited to a whisky tour.

"This has been an exceptionally challenging year financially for many people and with the continuing cost-of-living pressures, we decided to expand the initiative to include a Darnley’s Gin tour in addition to our whisky tour to ensure that our award-winning tours are accessible to all, whether they’re spirits enthusiasts, or locals and visitors looking to learn more about the distilling process and enjoy our visitor centre experience during the quieter winter months post-festive season.”

Details of tours, which typically cost £14, are available at https://www.kingsbarnsdistillery.com/pages/our-tours. Each tour lasts for an hour.

Kingsbarns Distillery began life as a semi-derelict farm steading - built around 1800 by Thomas Erskine, the ninth Earl of Kellie, as part of East Newhall Farm to service the adjoining Cambo Estate. Its centrepiece is a doocot, made with over 600 neatly formed terracotta nesting boxes which, at the time, would have housed pigeons to supply the laird’s kitchen with meat and eggs.

A three-year restoration project involving specialist architects, engineers, designers and whisky specialists restored this historic building into the beautiful distillery and visitor centre that is now in place today – including the immaculately restored doocot in pride of place.

The distillery The distillery has a capacity of 34 barrels per week and can produce 200k litres of alcohol per year. The Kingsbarns team is aiming to make the distillery as green as possible and sustainability is at the heart of production.