RyeLaw 2017

RyeLaw is InchDairnie's first official release, a Fife single grain Scotch made from a mash of roughly 53% malted rye and 47% malted barley. This is the 2017 vintage, bottled in 2022 at 5 years old. It was released for Europe.

InchDairnie was built in 2015 by Ian Palmer to chase flavour through unusual equipment, milling its cereals on a hammer mill and mashing on a Meura filter rather than a traditional tun. Rye is difficult to mash, so the hammer mill and Meura filter handle the grain the traditional roller mill and tun cannot, and fermentation runs on a yeast chosen for rye. Maturation is in new charred American oak, so the wood works hard from the first year.

Bottled at 46.3%, with natural colour and without chill filtration, the new charred oak drives vanillin for a strong vanilla note and oak lactones for coconut, while furfural adds a toasted, almost bready edge and fresh tannins give grip. Recorded bottle notes run to vanilla, fresh orchard fruit and honey. The rye runs through as a dry, peppery spice against the barley's honeyed malt, into a clean finish.