Eden Mill: ‘Lowland malt with a Highland heart’

You say St. Andrews and I reply “golf”. Or beautiful Scottish coast. The Kingdom of Fife comes to mind. A renowned university. Eden Mill might well be added to this list of bringing fame and recognition to the St. Andrews regio, with not only distilling whisky but also gin, as well as being a brewery. We will taste two of their products today, which are the results of distillation in small alembic stills. These bottles might well become rare collectibles in the future, since Eden Mill is set to moved to a bigger, newly build distillery on the grounds of the St. Andrews University. The story is fascinating and can be followed in detail here. From the website: “These core range single malts are unique in that they come from the old Eden Mill distillery which will never reopen. The exciting part for me is that I’ve curated the range to reflect the Eden Mill house style that can be expected from our new distillery in the years to come - so it’s an opportunity to sample our legacy stocks while getting a glimpse into the future”, explains master distiller Scott Ferguson.

Around since 2014, with releasing their first whisky in 2018, I never got round to tasting any Eden Mill single malt. Sometimes I would look at bottles at auction sites, and this is where I realized that products from Eden Mill were hard to find in my home market. Luckily, today’s output was readily available. So, without further ado, let us try Eden Mill for the first time!

Eden Mill bourbon cask, bottled at 46 % abv

Makeup: Non Chill Filtered - Natural Colour. Matured in medium char bourbon casks. The label has no mention of this being a Lowland single malt whisky, their website does, actually stating this is a Lowland whisky with a Highland heart. Lovely. No mention of the duration of maturation.

General impressions: But this is quintessential Lowland whisky, if you ask me. Beautiful grassland odour mixed with lemony characteristics. Some yellow fruits, light touch of banana, but it remains mostly on the fresh side of the spectrum. Dry hay, colourful flowerbed under a Spring sun. Very balanced and clean.

Oh wow, the mouthfeel really surprised me here, it is way more silky than I would have expected. Based on the nosing, I expected something more in line with Kingsbarns, Daftmill and Clydeside. But this Eden Mill introduces an even lighter and delicate style. The taste is limited in what it has the offer, but combined with the softness of it, it makes for quite the unique experience. Almost like a Lowland Cardhu of sorts. I am impressed by this frivolous little thing! Can we attribute this softness to the small stills? If so, I hope someone at Eden Mill figures out how to maintain this for the future distillery.

Conclusion: What a plot twist in this Eden Mill. After nosing it I half and half expected to taste a rather generic Lowland single malt, but this dram has a mind all its own. Love at first sight, I must say. This can only get better with longer maturation. Give us an age statement, Eden Mill!

Score: 84 points

Eden Mill sherry cask, bottled at 46 % abv

Makeup: Non Chill Filtered - Natural Colour. Matured in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks from Bodega Jose y Miguel Martin in Spain. No mention of the duration of maturation.

General impressions: A different story altogether, and a less clean one at that. The sherry maturation introduces a dirty and spicy aroma, which adds some complexity but also takes away some of that fresh feeling I like so much in the bourbon cask expression. But on the tongue is has this same lovely, silky style. It is quite nutty in taste, but there are many layers to uncover here. The balance between the sweeter PX casks and the nuttier, more woody Oloroso, is very well done. Lots of chocolate and sticky mousse to be found in your glass. Upon returning to the glass you do pick up some sulphury influences, making for an interesting experience. Despite it all, this dram is similarly soft. And here you do pick up some highland character indeed, contrary to the bourbon expression though.

Conclusion: It comes down to a matter of taste of course, but I preferred the cleaner, playful style of the bourbon matured expression a tad better. That aside, these are two sides of the same medal and both together or individually can provide you with tons of whisky drinking pleasure.

Score: 82 points
Disclaimer: taken from samples acquired via Whiskysite.nl

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