Independent Scottish distiller Eden Mill has installed the wash and spirit stills at its new distillery in St Andrews, as the brand gets ready to start production on the Eden Campus.
The heart of the distillery, the two hand-crafted copper stills were manufactured by LHS in Speyside and designed in collaboration with Eden Mill head distiller, Scott Ferguson, to achieve a light, floral and grassy new make similar to that which he distilled back in 2014 on the original stills.
The onion-shaped wash still (15,000 litres), boil-ball spirit still (11,500 litres), and shell-and-tube condenser were all selected by Ferguson to produce a lighter and sweeter spirit with a delicate flavour profile. Commissioning will begin in March, kicking off the process of fine-tuning the new-make spirit before filling the first casks of the new distillery.
Located seven minutes from St Andrews, the distillery will open its doors to tourists in summer 2025, offering immersive tours, a shop and a third-floor cocktail bar where guests will be able to sit back, relax and enjoy views across the Eden Estuary.
Commenting on the installation, Rennie Donaldson, chief executive officer at Eden Mill, said: “Installing our copper stills on-site is a momentous occasion for the brand and the start of a new chapter in Eden Mill’s story. We have come so far as a business, and we’re now just months away from filling our first whisky cask at our new distillery, which is testament to all the hard work the team has put in behind the scenes.”
Located on The University of St Andrews Eden Campus, the Eden Mill distillery is being built with sustainability at its core. In October, the St Andrews-based brand announced a partnership with Scottish firm MiAlgae to recycle effluent – a by-product of whisky making – into micro-algae, with the aim of eliminating reliance on wild-caught fish as a source of Omega-3.
The distillery will also power its gin still using 100% renewable energy, including power from the University’s own solar farm. Additionally, the CO2 produced during the fermentation process of distillation will be captured for future use.
