"We want to produce whisky we're proud to put our name to": Inside new chapter of Lindores Abbey distillery
Amid rumours of closure, the resignation of Russian investors and redundancies, what does the future hold for Lindores Abbey Distillery? Rosalind Erskine spoke to new chief operating officer Jennifer Donaldson about the next chapter in this storied business and its historic location.
It has been a turbulent time for those in the whisky industry for the last few years. An economic downturn, American tariffs and a softening of the market has meant that the heady days of the early 2020s - and a huge boom in buying of liquid - are long gone.
While every business is weathering the storm differently, one which has been in the headlines is Lindores Abbey in Fife. The relatively new distillery, which opened in 2017, is next to the ruin of Lindores Abbey in Newburgh which dates back to 1191 and is thought of as the spiritual home of whisky thanks to the monks, including Friar John Corr, who were distilling on site from 1494.
The modern distillery was founded by the Mckenzie-Smith family, Drew and Helen. In 2022 it was reported that Russian investors were resigning as non-executive directors of the company given the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
In February this year it was announced that events team staff had been made redundant, with the business then having to fend off inaccurate speculation that the distillery was due to close.
Now , as Lindores looks to the future, there is a new board of directors, a caretaker CEO - Nick Ravenhall from Woven - and a new COO, Jennifer Donaldson who left her role in Diageo to take on this historic distillery and try to turn its fortunes around.
Mr McKenzie-Smith is still a director, but he and his wife no longer have active roles within the company. Meanwhile, Mr Heath Alexander Forusz and Viacheslav Nazarov were appointed directors in 2025 and a deal has been brokered to pay back the Russian investors.
Ms Donaldson said: “It’s no longer a family run business, it’s a company with investors who are in the background, people who are aboard and a management team on the ground who are there to drive it. The big thing for us (we see this) as an opportunity to reset the company as well but to also welcome younger people from the industry to come in, make a mark and shine. There’s an opportunity to reset and reshape, which you don’t really get in bigger companies.”
Ms Donaldson was tasked with doing a full business review in terms of operating structure but also people, processes and profit. Redundancies and other decisions were made before she started in her role but that was to ensure that the business was making efficiencies, being productive and spending in the right areas to futureproof the business.
Ms Donaldson said: “When I joined Lindores, my first priority wasn't to change the business, it was to understand it. My responsibility is to make sure we honour the history while building a business that's ready for the future. My three priorities were: our people, processes and performance. Every successful business starts with its people, so I wanted to understand the team, how we work together and where we could improve. Strong teams, clear processes and consistent decision-making create the foundations for sustainable success.
“Build resilience into the business.
Another key priority is to “build resilience into the business”, Ms Donaldson said.
She added: That means being honest about where we create the greatest value, where the biggest opportunities lie and equally, what we should stop doing so we can focus on what matters most. Quick growth for a quick win has never interested me. I'd much rather build something that's commercially strong and built to last.
Evolving the brand is another focus of Ms Donaldson’s work.
“Our brand needs to tell the same story as our whisky. Our heritage will always be at the heart of who we are, but heritage alone isn't enough and history should never make us complacent. History opens the door, but it's today's experience that brings people back. We're incredibly proud of what we produce but every day we have to earn the right for people to choose Lindores. That means creating experiences that are memorable and producing whisky we're proud to put our name to,” she added.
Now, the branding of Lindores has been given a refresh, a new whisky - Neactere - has been launched and a deal has been finalised with Saltire Hospitality thought to be the first of its kind for a whisky business.
Ms Donaldson said: “We’re the first whisky brand that they’ve (Saltire) partnered with in 25 years. They’re going to use our whisky in their food and cocktails and we’re going to be in all their hospitality and VIP bars and events. They’re getting exclusive access to our aqua vitae so we no longer sell that to the on trade. That’ll hopefully be a pinnacle partnership. It's exposure for both businesses but it’ll also reinvigorate the brand home.”
The Saltire deal still gives Lindores the opportunity to host events but without the previous overheads. Ms Donaldson said: “(The events team) disbanded because we started to realise that basically a business this size can’t carry that overhead when you can’t tangibly show the profitability of it. There’s ways we can do events without having to carry that overhead and that’s where the decisions have come from.”
Of the new branding, Ms Donaldson said: “It’s us trying to say this is a new era for the company but it’s also about reaching a new customer base and how do we stand out. We’re a modern whisky maker but we have a legacy-looking brand so how do we merge the two?”
Nick Ravenhall added: “We stand at this really interesting point in history but we’re also modern whisky makers and we don’t want to lose sight of that. Everything with the new branding is about lifting things up a bit and making our history easier to understand.”
As for the future, Ms Donaldson said she thinks it's bright, despite the turbulence of the last few years. She said: “I genuinely believe the future is incredibly exciting. I'd love people to look at Lindores in a few years' time and think ‘they're doing something really special’, not because we've changed who we are, but because we've built on the foundations already in place, stayed true to our heritage and had the confidence to keep moving forward. We're proud of where we came from, and we're just as excited about where we're going.”
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