Description

25% off Aqua Vitae for NHS and front line workers using code: NHS25 – If any locals want to collect their purchases we can organise that with a pre-arranged pick up window. Just contact helen@lindoresabbeydistillery.com *Terms: not in conjunction with any other offer or voucher/coupon | Will still receive the Distillery Tour voucher and free fairy lights, while stocks last | Valid for NHS workers and front line workers as listed by the Scottish Government only | Offer ends 30th April 2020

An unusual gift idea for lovers of craft spirits, Lindores Abbey Aqua Vitae is the first release from this historic site in Fife, Scotland.

Aqua Vitae is a multi award winning handcrafted botanical spirit, made on site using spices, dried fruit and locally grown green herbs such as Douglas fir and sweet cicely. With citrus notes and full of sweet and spiced flavours, Aqua Vitae is delicious as a mixed drink or a cocktail base. See our RECIPES HERE

The earliest Aqua Vitae was made at Lindores as long ago as 1494, and we’ve authentically recreated that recipe and reimagined it as an inquisitively versatile spirit.

Today, our Aqua Vitae is distilled in pot stills and then infused with a blend of spices and herbs, including cleavers, and sweet cicely, which grow in our gardens, amidst the grounds of the ancient Abbey. It is entirely natural, with no added sugars.

FREE Aqua Vitae Gift Pack now available. Each bottle comes beautifully presented in a Lindores Abbey presentation box with a seasonal Aqua Vitae recipe card and information. The wrapper also allows you to write a gift note. Subject to availability.

Each bottle also comes with a FREE set of lights that can be put inside the bottle when you have drunk all the Aqua Vitae – turning it into a beautiful lamp! If you have used your bottle as a lamp, or a vase or for any other purpose, we would love to hear about it! Subject to availability.

70cl bottle. 40% ABV.

AWARD WINNING aqua vitae

In 2019 we were delighted to receive a Silver Medal in the Fruit Spirit category at the International Wine and Spirit Competition – IWSC. The judges commented that our Aqua Vitae is a great composition of flavours, with the lemon verbena keeping the dried-fruit-like raisin and date aromas and the taste balanced and fresh – a nice blend of flavours and textures, with an exciting harmony of flavours and a delicious finish.

We were also awarded a 2 Star Outstanding Award at the Great Taste Awards 2019 by Guild of Fine Food – the acknowledged benchmark for fine food and drink. It has been described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world and the ‘epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize’. Quite simply the Great Taste logo is the sign you can trust when buying food and drink in your local, quality retailer.

HOW TO DRINK AQUA VITAE

Tasting Notes: Initial light top notes of peach and pear, give way to hints of ginger, clove and cinnamon spice. Rich, caramel sweetness and some lovely light herbal notes on the finish. Complex and rewarding.

We recommend drinking Aqua Vitae in a Highball glass filled with ice, pour over 50ml of Aqua Vitae topped with Ginger Ale, and garnish with a twist of Orange.

We have discovered that Aqua Vitae is an incredibly versatile drink that can be used to make the most amazing summer and winter recipes, so grab some ice, a few ingredients and release your inner mixologist!

Old recipe for aqua vitae

The earliest ‘aqua vitae’ that was made at Lindores Abbey as long ago as 1494. Thought to have helped to ‘sloeth age’ and ‘abandoneth melancholy’, it was a powerful tonic that was drunk by kings and commoners alike.

It was Aqua Vitae that Brother John Cor and the monks were making for King James IV in 1494 here at Lindores Abbey. It would have been a powerful clear spirit, made using water from the ‘Holy Burn’ and barley from the surrounding fields. The strong spirit would have been infused with plants and herbs that grew wild in the grounds of the Abbey, as well as other plants especially cultivated by the monks. More exotic herbs and spices brought back from Flanders, where the monks, or their agents, traded salmon and wool with the merchants of Europe, would also have been used. The original Aqua Vitae would have been a fiery spirit, used as much as a medicine or tincture, as a libation.

DELIVERY

Delivery is usually £6 (UK only)

Unfortunately, currently we are unable to send bottles to the USA, although we are close to appointing a US distributor, after which we will be delighted to ship Lindores ‘Aqua Vitae’ to whisky lovers across the Ocean.