Sales of tonic wine helped bring in £8.8m for abbey last year, some of which is spent on community projects

The routine for the Benedictine monks of Buckfast Abbey in Devon is plain and strict: a bell rings at 5.25am to wake them and thereafter the day is divided into periods of prayer, work and study. Meals are simple and, except on very special occasions, taken in silence.

Yet there is nothing austere about the finances of the Buckfast Abbey trust, which supports the community. New figures from the Charity Commission reveal that – in large part thanks to the success of the abbey’s tonic wine – the trust’s annual income totalled a cool £8.8m.

The success is not without controversy. Buckfast tonic wine, which contains caffeine, is often blamed for drink-fuelled thuggery in Scotland. Only last week a sheriff in Dundee said he believed there was a “very definite association between Buckfast and violence” as he sentenced a young man who smashed a bottle of the drink over a boy’s head at a child’s 15th birthday party.

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Such trouble does not tend to happen in Buckfastleigh. “I don’t know anyone who really drinks it here, actually, and certainly not as apparently as some do in Strathclyde,” said Neil Smith, a town councillor and economics lecturer. “Although it does actually make quite a nice alternative to Pimm’s if you dilute it with lemonade rather than down it in one from the bottle.”

Smith does not feel the drink’s reputation is bad for the town’s image. “On the contrary, it generates interest in the town and the long history of the abbey here. The abbey is a huge tourist attraction, bringing people from all over the world. It employs local people; it is a beautiful environment with free entry, providing a space to walk and contemplate. I go there often myself, despite not being religious.”

The postmaster, Lorraine Lee, is also a fan of the abbey. When the post office relocated last year, the trust paid for the refurbishment. “They do very good work in the town,” said Lee. Did she like the tonic wine? “I’ve tasted it but it’s not my cup of tea.”

It is clear from the townspeople – and the financial accounts – that the monks do not hoard the money. As well as investing in the post office, they have recently ploughed funds into a play park. They also support religious ventures such as a Catholic theological school.

The recipe for the tonic wine is attributed to the original French monks who settled at the abbey in the 1880s. They imported base wines from Spain, added ingredients according to a secret, age-old recipe and created a medicinal pick-me-up.

By the 1920s, 1,400 bottles were being sold annually and the distribution and sale was taken over by a company called J Chandler, based in Hampshire. To broaden its appeal, Buckfast was made less severe and turned into what the abbey describes as a “smoother, more mature medicated wine”.

It used to be advertised as a cure for insomnia and was said to have “wonderful restorative and health-giving properties”. In more modern times, the label has been adapted to include the proviso: “The name tonic wine does not imply health-giving or medicinal properties.”

But it is still selling well. Today Buckfast is exported to Australia, the Bahamas, Spain, Greece, Ireland and to parts of west Africa.

The monks have expanded the operation, recently building a new tonic factory – a low-lying building with a grass roof – with four vats each with a capacity of 130,000 litres of wine.

Despite its worldwide sales, Buckfast is not available at all outlets in Buckfastleigh. The Abbey Inn, a pub on the bank of the Dart, does not stock the wine. “It’s an acquired taste – very sweet,” said the landlord, Richard Jacobsen. “I think they export most of it up to Glasgow. We don’t get asked for it. Cider is more what we do here.”

The monks seem a little reluctant to discuss either the trust’s comfortable financial position or the alleged problems the drink causes. This week Chalk & Ward, a PR company based in Exeter, was tasked with getting the abbey’s message across.

It explained in a statement that selling tonic wine was not about making a stack of cash. “Buckfast Abbey’s charitable trust exists to support the religious community at Buckfast Abbey and those engaged in charitable works,” it said. “The trustees work hard to ensure the trust generates a healthy level of income so it can continue to provide this support. As such, the trust makes money in a number of ways.”

As well as selling wine, the abbey offers hotel rooms for visitors who wish to have a taste of the tranquillity that monastic life offers without the obligatory early starts and prayers. A double room in the Northgate House Hotel is advertised at £119 for double occupancy.

The abbey also has a state-of-the-art conference centre where delegates can enjoy a welcome drink of “Buckfast’s Fizz” – tonic wine, fruit, mint, orange juice, soda water and crushed ice.

“Whilst the tonic wine does generate an income, the new hotel-style accommodation at Buckfast Abbey and the recently renovated conference centre have also contributed to the increase in income that the trust received,” the PR statement said.

The abbot, David Charlesworth, would not discuss the problems associated with the drink this week. In a rare BBC interview on the subject in 2013, he said it was unfair to blame the wine, arguing: “We don’t make a product for it to be abused. That’s not the idea. We make a product which is a tonic wine … I’m not producing drugs, which I know are going to be used abusively.”

It was left to Chalk & Ward to come to the drink’s defence this week after the criticism in Dundee from Sheriff Alastair Brown. “We are saddened to hear that, in the sheriff’s opinion, a small number of people in Scotland are not enjoying Buckfast tonic wine in a responsible way,” it said.

“Buckfast Abbey’s charitable trust is a minority shareholder in the company that sells the wine, J Chandler & Co. The trust strives to work with J Chandler & Co to ensure that the tonic wine is marketed and distributed responsibly. The majority of people who drink the tonic wine do so responsibly. We fully support the efforts of charities such as Drinkaware who work to reduce alcohol misuse and harm in the UK.”

Despite the concerns, Buckfast will be part of many festive celebrations. A stall at the Christmas market in Belfast has been selling “Buckie burgers”, while a Glasgow bar is warming customers up with Buckfast mulled wine.

A couple from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, have been both celebrated and reviled on social media for creating a Christmas tree from 98 empty bottle of Buckfast.

PictureThis Scotland (@74frankfurt) Mark Watson of Clydebank builds a Buckfast Christmas tree from 98 bottles and 200 fairy lights. (2016) pic.twitter.com/TwwxW2XzWc

Whether the monks will be cracking open the Buckfast this Christmas remains a mystery. Asked about the monks’ drinking habits, Chalk & Ward made it clear that nobody would be commenting.