Kingsbarns

Kingsbarns distillery is the brainchild of Douglas Clement. From conception in 2009, it took five years for the idea to be formed into a full operational whisky distillery, though it was no easy journey. A former golf caddie, Clement realised there was no nearby whisky distillery for the course’s visitors to go and see. So, he decided on a derelict farm building for his site, based just a few miles from St Andrews. Initially, £100,000 was raised from 32 investors, and many of these were golfers Clement knew. He spent another two years fundraising, as well as a Scottish government grant of £670,000, though he still fell short of the amount of money needed to actually build the distillery. However, help came in the form of the Wemyss family, who have a historical link with the site Clement chose and also own Wemyss Malts. So, in 2013, Clement sold the business to the Wemyss family, though he remained as director. Within 18 months of selling, the distillery was finally up and running, first opening to the public in December 2014.