InchDairnie

Type: Distillery

Six copper bubble cap plates sit in the neck of the bespoke Lomond Hill still engineered for RyeLaw, InchDairnie’s first whisky release. That single grain Scotch, made from malted rye and malted barley, introduced a distillery founded by Ian Palmer in Glenrothes, Fife, in 2015. Its work also includes peated single malts and single malt supplied to blenders.[1][3][6][9][10][5][8][12]

Fact box

What InchDairnie is known for

An unusual grain recipe and purpose-built distillation equipment make RyeLaw a clear introduction to InchDairnie. A Meura mash filter, outdoor fermentation and a bespoke copper still with six copper bubble cap plates give its production story its character.[3][5][6]

These are practical choices in how the whisky is made, not a claim that unfamiliar equipment automatically makes better whisky. The relationship between machinery and raw material is what makes InchDairnie worth a closer look.[3][5][6]

The names are straightforward once separated: InchDairnie is the producer, RyeLaw and KinGlassie identify its whiskies, and John Fergus & Co. is the operating company’s trading name. That last name leads back into Fife’s industrial history.[3][6][8][10]

Ian Palmer and the mill connection

Ian Palmer brought more than 40 years of whisky industry experience to InchDairnie, according to the producer. His previous roles included Operations Manager at Invergordon Distillery and Group Distilling Manager for all Whyte & Mackay distilleries. InchDairnie says he designed the distillery with construction company Colorado Group and engineered the Lomond Hill still for RyeLaw.[1]

The company name reaches further back. InchDairnie’s history describes John Fergus & Co. as the business that built and operated Prinlaws mill in 1829, on the River Leven near Leslie. It says the company stopped trading in 1957 and the mill was subsequently demolished apart from its tall red brick chimney.[2]

That chimney belonged to the mill’s move to coal power, using coal from nearby mines, in the producer’s account. The modern company name honours this local industrial heritage; it does not give the distillery an earlier founding date. Trade coverage explicitly describes the adoption of John Fergus & Co. as a tribute to the mill business.[2][10]

Story box: A mill name for a new distillery

How InchDairnie makes RyeLaw

A mash filter rather than a traditional mash tun

Rye accounts for 53% of RyeLaw’s mash bill, or grain recipe; the remaining 47% is malted barley. Both grains are malted. InchDairnie says they are hammer milled and the resulting fermentation takes place outdoors. Trade reporting also identifies a rye-specific yeast.[3][5]

The Meura mash filter makes this recipe practical. Rye is difficult to work with in a traditional mash tun, and trade coverage explains that the filter enables InchDairnie to process it. The equipment and the grain recipe belong to the same story: the machinery supports the choice of raw material.[5]

At RyeLaw’s first release, reporting described InchDairnie’s mash filter as one of only two in Scotland, the other being at Teaninich. That gives a measure of its rarity at the time, rather than a current count of Scottish installations.[5][7]

The Lomond Hill still

The Lomond Hill is a copper pot still with six copper bubble cap plates in its neck, according to InchDairnie. Whisky Magazine reports that Palmer designed it with Italian still maker Frilli; the producer credits Palmer with engineering it specifically for RyeLaw.[1][3][6]

Despite the historical associations of the Lomond name, this is bespoke equipment built for InchDairnie. It is a concrete example of the distillery selecting machinery around a particular production aim.[6]

RyeLaw leaves the still at exactly 72% ABV, the producer says. It is then reduced to 62.5% ABV before filling into new charred oak barrels. At its April 2023 debut, the released whisky was bottled at 46.3% ABV.[3][5]

Documented: InchDairnie says RyeLaw was made to meet the US definition of rye whisky, using a majority of rye, distillation below 80% ABV (160 US proof) and new charred oak. The applicable US legal standard must be checked against the official text before publication.[3]

RyeLaw and the first release

One week’s production became the first RyeLaw vintage. Distilled in 2017 and bottled in 2022, it comprised 200 casks, according to InchDairnie. On 26 April 2023, RyeLaw became the distillery’s first whisky to reach the market. The vintage, bottling and launch dates mark separate stages, not the start of distilling at InchDairnie.[3][5]

RyeLaw’s official category is single grain Scotch whisky, as reported by Whisky Magazine. There is no contradiction in its being Scottish whisky made with a majority of malted rye. “Single grain” is its category; it does not mean that the grain recipe is undisclosed. Here, the proportions of malted rye and malted barley are explicit.[3][6]

Disputed: RyeLaw has been described as the first Scottish malted rye whisky. The Spirits Business qualified the claim as “said to be” the first; InchDairnie makes the narrower claim that it is the only whisky in the world made with malted rye and distilled in a Lomond Hill still.[3][5]

The broader claim to being first is not established by these accounts, nor is its earliest source established in the supplied record. The sources were checked in November 2026; the exact day was not recorded.

KinGlassie and whisky for blenders

A peated single malt release was always part of Palmer’s plan. In trade coverage, he explains that RyeLaw created an impression of InchDairnie as primarily a rye distillery, even though a peated single malt release had always been intended. KinGlassie Double Matured and KinGlassie Raw followed RyeLaw in the public-facing range.[8]

The distinction is in the whisky: RyeLaw uses malted rye and malted barley, while KinGlassie identifies the peated single malts. InchDairnie also supplies single malt to blenders, so the named releases account for only part of its production.[3][8][12]

Production timeline

Common misconceptions

“Rye whisky cannot be Scotch.” RyeLaw is officially categorised as single grain Scotch whisky, as reported by Whisky Magazine. Rye identifies an ingredient here, not a country of origin. Its presence in the recipe does not turn RyeLaw into a whisky from somewhere else.[6]

“InchDairnie only makes rye.” RyeLaw gave the distillery a conspicuous debut, but the range also includes KinGlassie peated single malts. InchDairnie supplies single malt to blenders too. The first release introduced the producer without defining the limits of its production.[8][12]

“The Lomond still belongs only to the past.” InchDairnie’s Lomond Hill still was designed with Frilli for this project. The name may carry older associations, but the still itself is bespoke equipment built for a modern distillery and its particular production aims.[6]

Where to go next

• Lindores Abbey: explore the history behind another distillery name.
• Daftmill: compare its distillery profile with InchDairnie’s production story.
• Kingsbarns: explore another producer’s identity beyond an individual whisky name.

Sources

1. InchDairnie Distillery. Meet the team. Undated web page, checked November 2026. https://www.inchdairniedistillery.com/meet-the-team/
2. InchDairnie Distillery. Our History. Undated web page, checked November 2026. https://www.inchdairniedistillery.com/our-history/
3. InchDairnie Distillery. RyeLaw. Undated web page, checked November 2026. https://www.inchdairniedistillery.com/ryelaw/
4. InchDairnie Distillery. Home page. Undated web page, checked November 2026. https://www.inchdairniedistillery.com/
5. The Spirits Business. InchDairnie debuts inaugural rye whisky. April 2023. https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2023/04/inchdairnie-debuts-inaugural-rye-whisky/
6. Whisky Magazine. InchDairnie Distillery releases first RyeLaw whisky. Web article, publication date not supplied in the sheet. https://whiskymag.com/articles/inchdairnie-distillery-releases-first-ryelaw-whisky/
7. Whisky For Everyone. Review: InchDairnie RyeLaw. May 2023. https://whiskyforeveryone.blogspot.com/2023/05/review-inchdairnie-ryelaw.html
8. Master of Malt. InchDairnie’s Ian Palmer talks KinGlassie whisky. Web article, publication date not supplied in the sheet. https://www.masterofmalt.com/blog/post/inchdairnies-ian-palmer-talks-kinglassie-whisky/
9. Wikipedia. InchDairnie distillery. Version recorded in the supplied sheet, November 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inchdairnie_distillery
10. WhiskeyAtlas. InchDairnie Distillery. Undated web page, checked November 2026. https://www.whiskeyatlas.co.uk/distillery/inchdairnie
11. legislation.gov.uk. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, regulation 10. Original 2009 text supplied in the sheet. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/2890/regulation/10/made/data.xht?view=snippet&wrap=true
12. Scotch.scot. InchDairnie. Undated web page, checked November 2026. https://scotch.scot/whisky/distillery/inchdairnie-distillery

This desk-researched draft uses the supplied fact sheet, distinguishing the producer’s accounts from trade reporting and retaining its unresolved historical qualification.

Last checked: November 2026