Tasting Notes: Eden Mill – Art Of The Blend No. 4

Eden Mill – Art Of The Blend Whisky No. 4

Back in 2012, the folks at Eden Mill resurrected a tradition of distilling within St Andrews on a site originally opened by Haig in 1810. Since the distillery’s rebirth, the Eden Mill team have been handcrafting their own whisky, gin and beer at (according to their website) “Scotland’s only single site combined brewery and distillery”. Whilst we await the release of their first single malt in 2018, the distillers have released their own series of blends in limited batches. Courtesy of Lara’s generosity, and a lot of luck on our behalf, we’ve received a beautifully bottled sample of their fourth “Art Of the Blend” release.

Accompanied by a handwritten note from the team at Eden Mill (see below – tying in with their approach to handcrafting everything!), we discover that the whiskies within their Blend No. 4 have been married together and then matured in Portuguese ex-port European oak casks. The whisky is limited to 1,100 bottles and rocks in at 51% ABV so without further ado JB & me take on this new release…

Nose

J: Port (obviously) and freshly sawn oak.

M: Cherries. Kirsch. Plum Gin. So many boozy red fruits.

Taste

J: Slightly smoky actually. Very dry. The strength of the booze takes over. Late tastes of charcoal and slightly peppery at the end.

M: Oak. Pine. It’s all the woods upfront. It’s big and powerful. Really big in fact. The fruits have been blasted away by the booze. Some water and time though and those red berries and cherries reappear.

Finish

J: Really peppery and spicy oak.

M: Strong, strong booze finish. Like an amplified red wine coating the throat.

Verdict

J: Port is a lot more present on the nose than when you’re drinking it but maybe the alcohol just masks it. It’s pretty strong stuff with lots going on, and that charcoal taste caps it off for me.

M: Well this is the probably the first time I’ve ever had a pink whisky and the fact that it has been so heavily influenced by the ex-port casks to become so has made for an interesting experience. There is an amazing nose. So different to anything I’ve had of late. The port has obviously done its work here. It’s kind of a shame that it doesn’t seem to carry that fruity intensity through to the end, but then again that might would probably make it more like a liqueur than a full-on whisky, which this is. As soon as it comes to tastes though, oak is the main stay here and the fruit is left in the wings. Some taming with water though and we’re right back to those berries and this a really enjoyable fruity tipple.