A popular gin school experience which was once housed at a Fife distillery will return to St Andrews as it takes up residency at a prestigious hotel.
Eden Mill’s Blendworks Gin School has been on tour across Scotland after spending the summer in Edinburgh.
Now, it has headed north again and is returning to Fife as it launches at The Rusacks Hotel in the golfing town.
Enjoy the experience from the rooftop of the hotel’s newly opened 18 Restaurant and Bar, which offers views of the 18th green and iconic Old Course and West Sands.
What is the experience?
Blendworks offers gin lovers the chance to create their own bespoke gin, unique to their tastes.
The two-hour experience is guided by one of Eden Mill’s experienced gin masters and offers a multi-sensory journey into the world of gin blending.
Guests will first be taught the science and history behind gin while enjoying a refreshing serve of one of the brand’s popular gins, followed by a tasting session to explore the different botanicals and flavour profiles found in the spirit.
Attendees are then invited to select their own botanicals to create their unique blend.
Once guests have made their gin, they can enjoy the first sip served as a classic gin and tonic with a selection of canapes created by executive chef Derek Johnstone.
The 38-year-old MasterChef: The Professionals 2008 winner has worked with some of the world’s most renowned chefs including Michel Roux Jr. and the late Albert Roux, and in Michelin-starred kitchens around Europe including Le Gavroche in London, De Karmeliet in Belgium, and DO near Milan.
Guests will also get the chance to name and bottle their blend to take home and will receive an Eden Mill gin glass and a special code which enables them to reorder their own spirit at any stage.
The Blendworks Gin School would usually be held at the distillery’s home just outside St Andrews however, a new distillery is in the process of being built at Guardbridge at St Andrews University.
When the new premises opens, guests will be able to enjoy the experience from the Garden of Eden – a room at the distillery using bioponics, vertical farming techniques and LED lights to grow any of the more exotic botanicals the firm can’t source locally.
Derek Johnstone, executive chef at 18 at Rusacks St Andrews, said: “The team and I are ecstatic to be involved; we’ve been working closely with Eden Mill to create canapes that will complement the botanicals that can be used in the gins.”
St Andrews residency
The next experience takes place on Saturday December 11 at 3pm. It will be bookable every second week of the month from January 2022.
Tickets cost £95pp and are available to buy from www.18standrews.co.uk.
More dates will be released in 2022.