Here’s a new whisky from a new, Lowland distillery: Kingsbarns. Dream To Dram is their first, regular release and I believe there’s whisky that’s blended from stocks ranging from 3-4 years old- so it is technically a single malt Scotch. The malts used were taken from first fill, ex-bourbon casks and first fill, toasted & re-charred wine casks- with the majority of liquid coming from the ex-bourbon. It’s bottled at 46% ABV and I picked this bottle up online for $46. It’s super, pale yellow in color (which is all natural and non-chill filtered) and produces sparse, thin legs and very tiny drops when you spin it in the glass. The nose features lots of biscuity meal and banana bread with nice hints of vanilla, orchard fruits and lemon zest. Fresh cut oak also makes an appearance along with some ground, white pepper if you get down in it deep enough. The palate shines with apples, pears and honey sweetness. More vanilla and oak arrive mid-sip and turns this thing towards a heavily bourbon-themed dram. Youthful zip and a slight harshness, just like a young, American bourbon (minus the corn) keeps this pretty well rounded- although the higher ABV doesn’t create as much heat as I anticipated. The finish was medium in length and overall dry, with some harsh abrasiveness that’s a little rough to work around. I did notice this aspect had faded a bit as I worked through the bottle and some oxidation helped smooth it a bit more, but it also dulled the orchard fruit flavors in a negative way. Overall, there’s lots of promise with Kingsbarns in my humble opinion. Seven or eight years in the barrel will probably work wonders, as would some sherry cask finishing, I think. This inaugural release is still solid, especially if you like your scotch whisky to mimic bourbon. This could make some nice, fruity cocktails and even hold up with an ice cube or two. 3.25 stars with a quarter star bump for the elevated ABV and reasonable price point. I’ll be keeping an eye out for future releases from these guys for sure. Cheers.