The Kylver Stone is a historic burial stone that documents all the runes in the Elder Futhark alphabet. It was found in Sweden in 1903, during the excavation of a cemetery near a farm. When the Vikings ruled over certain parts of Scotland during the Middle Ages, they brought this runic alphabet with them. The town of Thurso in Caithness was founded by the Vikings in this era, originally serving as an important Norse port. The Thurso-based Wolfburn distillery, revived in 2013, launched The Kylver Series to honour this part in the history of their home. Wolfburn Kylver Series No. 2 was released in May 2017. The whisky was drawn from just three casks: two ex-bourbon barrels and a second-fill ex-Oloroso sherry butt, yielding a total of 1450 bottles. The second symbol in the Futhark alphabet is uruz, and represents the u-sound. Its name means ‘water’ or ‘wild ox’.
From about 850 AD until 1266 AD, the Vikings ruled over the area of Caithness (where the Wolfburn distillery is located today) and brought their runic alphabets with them. The oldest form of these, known as Elder Futhark, is documented on a large runestone excavated in Sweden in 1903. This exceptional stone was named the Kylver Stone after the farm where it was found. In 2016, Wolfburn launched The Kylver Series to honour this part in the history of their home. The first whisky in the series matured in bourbon barrels for three years, and saw a limited release of just 1200 bottles. Wolfburn Kylver Series No. 1 is dedicated to the first symbol in the Futhark alphabet, fehu. It represents the f and v-sound, and its name means ‘cattle’ or ‘wealth’.
About Wolfburn
Wolfburn uses a 1.1 ton mash and draws off clear worts which are then given a long fermentation before distillation in a wash still with capacity of 5.5k litres, and a spirit still which can hold 3,600 litres. Maturation takes place in predominantly ex-Bourbon casks, but some ex-Sherry are used. Its new make is malty, fruity and sweet with a floral hint.
Thurso is the most northerly town on the British mainland, but perhaps surprisingly it didn’t have a distillery for over 160 years. The first plant, called Wolfburn after the distillery water source, was opened by William Smith in 1821 and was run by the same family until 1837. In the 1820s it was the largest producer in Caithness. It appears to have closed in 1837 before David Smith ran it for one year in 1852, though there are claims that it continued intermittently into the 1860s.
The opening of 21st century Wolfburn was more of an exercise in archaeology than a process of bringing a disused plant back to life. Little more than a mound of stones showed where the original site had been. Its new owners built as close as they could to the spot – and use the same water source. The ground was broken on August 2012 and production commenced on 25 January 2013.
*Due end of August 2025
