Scotland’s Gin: The Perfect Golf Tonic
As the British Open Golf tournament tees off this week in St Andrews, Scotland we give thought to an altogether different G&T. Find out how you can get involved without even lifting a club.
Sitting in the Jigger Inn looking directly onto the 17th hole of golf’s famous Old Course is only one of two places in the world where you can buy the Scottish made Jigger Ale. Whilst the maker, the Belhaven Brewery, established in 1719 most definitely isn’t one of the new wave of artisan beer makers they are happy enough to create a smaller batch of beer for this famous Inn which is part of the 5 star Old Course Hotel.
After 2 decades of wine being in vogue, hasn’t it been refreshing 
to see small batch and artisan beer production leading the way with artisan spirit making following suit. I asked Richard Duffy, a shareholder in Brewdog (the world’s first ever crowd funded brewery) when he thought the artisan beer bubble would burst. His view is that it won’t. He suggested I take a look around the bar we were sitting in and pay attention to the demographic. Yes, indeed there were many a bearded man (both trendy hipsters and grandfathers alike), and so too were there ladies of all ages enjoying their own particular favourite, be it a hoppy IPA, an amber red or a milk chocolate stout.
Of course, the production of a weak beer is essentially the first stage of spirit production, hence artisan spirit making would seem the next natural step. Eden.mill one of the stops on many of our guided and self-drive day tours, short breaks and vacations, is at the forefront of trend setting. Since 2014, they have been lovingly crafting whisky and some rather interesting gins on their artisan beer site.
The site has a fascinating heritage having been known as the Seggie Whisky Distillery, owned by none other than William Haig of the Haig whisky making dynasty from 1810. Known for creating gins that are a little different, in their most recent release the ‘Golf Gin’, Eden.Mill pays tribute to the bygone era of hickory shafted golf clubs by producing a gin with sweet lemongrass notes on the palate with mild pepperiness, strong hints of lime, coriander and aromatic spice. Golf Gin is sure to be the perfect base for cocktails or poured over ice with a splash of tonic and a twist of orange or lime this week at the British Open whether it’s a hole-in-one celebration or the need for some ‘mothers ruin’ to take the edge off a disappointing round.
If tonic is your preference, we’d suggest you try the recently released Scottish made small-batch premium tonic made on the farm by Claire Rennie of Summerhouse Drinks. Named after the Victorian minister that served the Aberdeenshire parish and who owned the garden where many of the botanicals are grown, Walter Gregor’s tonic is well…..just the tonic.
Whatever your tipple (alcoholic or otherwise), I expect small-batch, lovingly crafted drinks made here in Scotland are here to stay. 
Interested in making your own gin or whisky whilst on vacation here? We know just the place and the right people. For more information contact us for a platinum tailor-made culinary, food and drink tour of Scotland or download our brochure.
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