The first stores officially opened yesterday in St Andrews, the home of Eden Mill on Market Street and at Livingston Designer Outlet.

Following the great success last year, Eden Mill will open two stores in Glasgow in October, returning to Glasgow’s Princes Square and opening a store in Silverburn for the first time. The premium Scottish distillers will also open a pop-up store at Aberdeen’s Union Square in November.

The shops will stock the brand’s festive range including luxury Christmas hampers, Candy Cane Gin, ready-to-drink Christmas cocktails and a range of premium gin and whisky for shoppers hoping to spread a little festive spirit with their gifts this year.

Tony Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Eden Mill, said: “Despite social distancing, we believe shopping on the high street still has a vital role to play in this year’s Christmas trade, which is why we are expanding the number of festive pop-ups from the three we had last year to five in 2020.

“Nothing compares to the experience of seeing and sampling the gifts before you make that all-important Christmas purchase and for us at Eden Mill we love sharing our story and passion for our craft with customers in person. Having the pop-up stores gives us the opportunity to share our knowledge with consumers and enrich their experience of the bottle of gin or whisky they are buying.

“Last year we saw great success across our stores with four times the volume of sales versus Christmas 2018. We’re particularly excited to be opening a store in St Andrews, the home of Eden Mill, where so many people have enjoyed staycations this year from across the UK.

“During lockdown our online sales soared, growing e-commerce by 600%. We will continue to offer our classic range of gins, exclusive bottles and special deals at edenmill.com, but we’re delighted to have these stores for those looking to share in the Eden Mill festive spirit on the high street.”

Steven Arnott, head of retail at Eden Mill, added: “For Christmas 2020 in store we are giving social distancing the Eden Mill treatment. Rather than being made to just wait in queues, customers will be greeted at a safe distance by one of our team who will immerse the customer in the Eden Mill experience before they even take a step inside.

“Once in store, we have sanitisation stations, safe tasting points and every step of the journey will engage the customer in our Eden Mill story as the floor vinyl stickers marking where to stand 1metre apart tell more about our journey from a small family distiller, to our sustainable hopes and plans for the future.”