Heather Honey for Mead?

[steveinUS]

I'm hopeful for some insight from UK mead makers on using 100% heather honey for a mead. I've brewed many batches, and lately have come to use only locally-sourced honey. In anticipation of our trip to Scotland in Spring 2020, the notion of acquiring some Scottish heather honey to bring or send home for a mead, has taken root. My lame Google skills have turned up a few UK/Scottish heather honey sources, but they seem to sell in small quantities which would cost a small fortune to buy enough to make a standard 5 gallon batch (I typically use 12-15 lbs. per 5 gallons).

So the questions turn to whether the resulting mead would be spectacular enough to justify the expense; and if anyone here knows of a good source for bulk heather honey in Scotland, which I could either carry back with me or ship home (it seems that honey is one of the allowable food types to bring/send home into the U.S.). Feedback from anyone who has made a heather mead would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[MrRook]

Perhaps a blend of 50% Heather and 50% clover would still be good.

 

[steveinUS]

Quite so. Or, just a small batch. I love making 100% varietal honey meads because they can be wildly different. One problem is, you are relying on the source for their description of the honey. At least if you are buying directly from the beekeeper, and they are being honest, they tend to know what crop a given lot of honey has come from depending on what was flowering in the vicinity of the hives before the honey was harvested. Bees and beekeeping are endlessly fascinating to me. Orange Blossom, Blackberry Blossom, Basswood, Black Locust, Clover, Meadowfoam, Buckwheat, Carrot Blossom (now THAT was one earthy-tasting mead!), etc. So I'm holding out hope for a great source of Heather Honey.

 

[Jan.]

These are some amazing honey varieties! This is not really my field of expertise but I have never seen carrot blossom honey! What is it like? have you ever made a mead with it? What were the results?

Also just the colour of Buckwheat honey puts me off/scares me!