Holyrood Distillery
About the distillery
Holyrood Distillery is located in the middle of Edinburgh and combines whisky and gin under the same roof. The most striking thing about the place is its deliberately experimental approach to whisky, where flavor is built up through the selection of special malts, heritage barley varieties, and unconventional yeast types—long before the spirit ever meets the cask. The result is a producer that clearly wants more than simply letting the wood do the work.
Ingredients and production
Holyrood works from the basic whisky trio of water, yeast, and barley, but it doesn’t stop there. The producer uses heritage barley strains such as Plumage Archer, Chevalier, Golden Promise, and Maris Otter, and supplements them with specialty malts that are also used in brewing. Among the mentioned types are Chocolate Malt, Crystal Malt, Brown Malt, Vienna Malt, Black Malt, Biscuit Malt, Light and Dark Munich Malt, Amber Malt, Caramalt, Cara Gold, Dextrin, and Chit. The yeast selection is just as wide and includes, among others, brewer’s, distiller’s, wine-, champagne-, and sake yeasts. This approach means that flavor-building begins right in the mashing and fermentation—not first when the whisky comes onto the cask.
Maturation and cask types
The whisky is matured in casks from respected producers around the world, and Ambir clearly shows how bourbon barrels are used to bring sweetness, warmth, and vanilla character. Holyrood places emphasis on the cask being important, but not the only source of character. That’s why cask aging becomes an extension of a spirit that has already been shaped by the malt and yeast choices before filling.
Whiskies
The whisky range focuses on single malt whisky and single cask whisky, and in addition the distillery works with new make spirit as a way to show the flavor-building before maturation. The specific whisky releases shown clearly range from Ambir, a single malt with a special-malt profile, to Brewer’s x Distiller’s Yeast, which demonstrates the distillery’s new spirit and yeast work. This creates a range where curiosity and process are just as central as the finished bottle.
| Whisky | Type / series | Alcohol | Cask and style | Flavor profile | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambir | Single Malt Whisky; Single Malt Release #3 | 49.8 % | Bourbon barrels | A sweet and creamy single malt, built on specialty malts: Chocolate malt, Vienna malt, Crystal 240 and Caramalt.; Nose: Caramel, creamy fudge, Demerara sugar, Scottish tablet; Taste: Red fruits, vanilla and cornflakes; Finish: Biscuit velvet texture, mouth-watering, hint of savoury at the end | Current; Core range; Out of stock |
| Brewer’s x Distiller’s Yeast | New Make Spirit; New Make: 50cl 01 | 60 % | New make spirit, described as effective at converting fermentable sugars and building on the flavor from brewer’s yeast.; Nose: Summer fruits intertwine with herbaceous pine and rosemary.; Taste: A surprise of tropical fruits.; Finish: clean and short. | Current; Out of stock |
Style and flavor profile of the whiskies
Holyrood’s style moves between sweetness, fruit, and spicy, fresh notes. Ambir leans toward caramel, creamy fudge, Demerara sugar, and Scottish tablet, while the palette shifts toward red fruits, vanilla, and cornflakes. Brewer’s x Distiller’s Yeast opens with summer fruits, herbaceous pine, and rosemary before tropical fruits take over, and the finish is clean and short. Together, they provide a picture of whisky and new make with both fruit depth, malt fullness, and an herbal-tinged energy.
Visit the distillery
Holyrood Distillery is open for public visits, with tours available for both beginners and more experienced whisky and gin enthusiasts. There are daily tours, and opening hours are Sunday to Friday 11:30am-5:30pm and Saturday 11:30am-6:30pm. The distillery also has a shop and offers the option to book a tour, so your visit can be planned directly around the guided tour.
The stated opening hours are Sunday - Friday 11:30am-5:30pm; Saturday 11:30am-6:30pm.
See times and book a visit.
Philosophy and craft
At the core is a flavour-first mindset: flavor must be built early through conscious choices of yeast, barley, and processes. Holyrood particularly highlights the use of heritage and specialty malts as well as yeast types from multiple parts of the drinks world, because they make it possible to shape the spirit before it meets the cask. It’s a clear craft philosophy where experimentation isn’t decoration, but method.