Edenmill oak aged gin with chillies

edenmill oak aged gin with chillies

Edenmill Oak Aged Gin with Chillies is an intriguing and ambitious product from Edenmill, Scotland’s first combined brewery and distillery since 1870, based in St Andrews, Fife. Taking their botanical gin base and resting it in oak barrels before adding chilli botanicals, Edenmill have created something genuinely unusual — a gin that combines the mellowing, vanilla-enriching effect of barrel ageing with the assertive, building heat of chilli. It’s a bold experiment that largely pays off.The oak ageing gives the gin an amber hue and adds warmth and vanilla richness to the nose before the chilli makes its presence felt. The aroma is complex: juniper and floral botanicals, toasted oak, a hint of coconut from the wood, and then a fruity chilli note that builds as you nose it. On the palate the botanicals come through clearly at first before the chilli heat builds slowly and deliberately. It’s a sustained, warming heat rather than an aggressive shock. The finish is long and spiced, with the oak and chilli combining to create a genuinely memorable aftertaste.This is a gin that rewards adventurous drinking. It’s excellent in a G&T with a quality tonic and a slice of orange, and it makes an outstanding base for a Spicy Negroni. At 40% ABV it’s approachably bottled but the character is unmistakably bold. An interesting, characterful Scottish craft spirit that shows real ambition and originality from the Edenmill team.