new make
NEW MAKE SPIRIT
New make spirit is simply the name for the spirit we create before it goes into cask.
We want to debunk the age-old notion that 80% of the flavour comes from the cask and we want to highlight what and how much malt and yeast can bring to the party.
So we make it our mission to work with heritage and specialty malts (more often found in beer making) and we intertwine them with interesting yeast varieties that are typically used in beers, wine, and tequila production.
The result is that we are building flavour from the get-go. And you can experience those flavours for yourself by trying our specially selected New Make Spirit releases.
“Our New Make encapsulates our iterative approach to production and why we use heritage and specialty malts, brewer’s, wine and specialty yeasts. Our New Make exhibits unique flavours, giving drinkers the opportunity to understand how flavour is created during our Scotch Whisky production process, before any cask influence”
Calum
Distillery Manager
providing drinkers with
full transparency
Each label on our New Make bottles outlines our recipe and process from start to finish, allowing for full transparency and greater understanding of our approach to flavour building.
brewer's series
brewer's x distiller's yeast
brewer's series
brewer's x distiller's yeast
Maltster
Crisp
malt
Pot Still Distiller's Malt
yeast 1
Distiller's Yeast: M Strain
yeast 2
Brewer's Yeast: US05
original gravity
1.06
final gravity
0.9967
wash abv
8.12%
Fermentation time
111.5 hours
on spirit
76.30%
off spirit
62.50%
OUR PROCESS
Heritage Malts,
Specialty Malts,
& Yeast
Each label on our New Make bottles outlines our recipe and process from start to finish, allowing for full transparency and greater understanding of our flavour building approach.
Specialty malts form our second building block of flavour. The brewing industry has long used malt roasting to create the baseline flavours to make up the main body of their beers’ characters. In creating our whisky we have employed the same methodology, using specialty malts to build the tone of our spirit, from which we can build further layers of flavour during fermentation.
Our third building block of flavour is our use of brewer’s and specialty yeast. Traditionally distilleries used a combination of distiller’s yeast and brewer’s yeast strains which were often obtained locally, as a method of propagating flavour. The Scotch Whisky industry has since moved towards strains that have provided a greater yield, and brewer’s yeast has almost been totally phased out of today’s Scotch Whisky production. Instead, other stages of the production process, have become the focus of creating flavour. At Holyrood we are re-examining brewer’s and speciality yeasts to use them as a means of creating unique flavours once again.
- All
- Specialty Malt
- Heritage Malt
- Brewer's Yeast
- Distiller's Yeast
Sigmund Kveik Ale Yeast
Brewer’s Yeast Sigmund Kveik Ale Yeast Traditionally used in the production of Read More
S-04 Yeast
Brewer’s Yeast s-04 yeast Traditionally used in English and American ales delivering Read More
Pinnacle MG+
Distiller’s Yeast Pinnacle MG+ Tailored for the production of whisky, Pinnacle MG+ Read More
Crystal Malts Explained
Crystal Malt is a type of malted barley traditionally used in the Read More
Amber Malt
Specialty Malt Amber Malt As its name suggests, Amber Malt exhibits a Read More
Dark Munich Malt
Specialty Malt Dark Munich Malt As its name suggests, Dark Munich Malt Read More
Biscuit Malt
Specialty Malt Biscuit Malt Biscuit malt is a roasted malt with a Read More
shop all
NEW MAKE
brewing heart,
whisky soul
“We’re revisiting what was once common place in Scotch Whisky distilleries; putting our brewing recipe at the heart of our whisky making process. At Holyrood, we put just as much emphasis on the malt and yeast as we do on our cask selection, as we believe all three of these aspects contribute to creating unique and exciting flavour..
Casks will always play a large part in whisky, but we believe that heritage barley, speciality malts, brewer’s and speciality yeasts, are our building blocks of flavour, which we can build on when our spirit enters the cask.”
We Test, Learn, Improve, Repeat
We are continually discovering more heritage barley varieties that were once part of Edinburgh’s rich brewing heritage and giving them a new purpose:
- Plumage Archer
- Chevalier
- Golden Promise
- Maris Otter
By introducing speciality malts into the distilling process we impart new and unique flavours to our spirits, with nearly all of them still used in brewing today:
- Chocolate Malt
- Crystal Malt (150:light/ 240: Medium/ 400:Dark)
- Brown Malt
- Vienna Malt
- Black Malt
- Biscuit Malt
- Light and Dark Munich Malt
- Amber Malt
- Caramalt
- Cara Gold
- Dextrin
- Chit
Just like our choice of malts, yeast strains offer another avenue of flavour creation. To date, we have used brewer’s, distiller’s, wine and even sake yeast strains:
- Pinnacle M/MG+
- DY379
- DY502
- Edinburgh Ale Yeast (EAY)
- Hefeweizen
- S-04
- US-05
- Kviek Ale (Sigmund)
- S-33
- Brux (like) Trois
- Fresh Nottingham Ale yeast
- N379 (Belgian)
- Tetley 70
- Sherry flor
- Pepenero
- Toronero
- BP725 (Bordeaux)
- MaurivinPDM (Champagne)
- MaurivinB (Burgundy)
- Mirtillo Rosso
- Bollicine champagne
- tropical sym wine yeast
- rose wine yeast
- passion fruit wine yeast
- apple/pear wine yeast
- Grand zin
- BC10 Bayanus
- le more yeast
- Pinnacle S (Rum)
- Black Death Yeast
- Sake
- Heff 4
Our New Make Spirit
Discover our New Make Series
BREWER’S X DISTILLER’S YEAST
Crystal Malt
Chocolate Malt
Made By Edinburgh
Shop New Make Series
FAQ's
New Make is the first stage of making whisky, and comes straight off of the still. It is unaged and so cannot legally be called Scotch Whisky, but it is the spirit that is put into our barrels for maturation, to become Holyrood’s future whisky. Our New Makes offer whisky drinkers the opportunity to experience how flavour is created before any cask influence.
Shop Our Spirits
Discover our Tours
Other Brands
A new take on vodka inspired by Edinburgh’s brewing past, we create Charmed Circle with heritage barley varieties; Chevalier and Golden Promise, showcasing each of their unique characteristics.
