Holyrood

Holyrood Distillery sits in the heart of Edinburgh, close to Holyrood Park, in a converted Victorian railway building. It began distilling in 2019, making it one of the newer distilleries in the Lowlands and one of the few working inside the city itself.

The distillery's main interest is flavour from the raw materials. Rather than sticking to standard distilling malt, it works with speciality malts such as crystal and chocolate malt, some borrowed from brewing, and it ferments with a range of yeasts, including wine yeasts. Its tall copper stills are suited to a lighter, cleaner spirit that lets those differences show.

Because the whisky is still young, buyers will meet new make spirits such as Holyrood Crystal Malt and Holyrood Chocolate Malt New Make Spirit alongside early single malts like Holyrood Embra and Holyrood Ambir. The Holyrood Noir series compares yeast strains, with Bordeaux, Burgundy and Premier Cru yeast versions of the same Lowland single malt.

Single casks of three to five year old Holyrood are already appearing, both from the distillery and from independent bottlers such as Keeble Cask Company and Duncan Taylor. These small releases are a good way to follow how the spirit is developing.