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our whisky

packshot of Holyrood Distillery's single malt scotch whisky - Ambir

single malt release #3

The mindset for Ambir was to create a deliciously sticky and sweet single malt expression, using our knowledge of specialty malts and yeasts. A harmonious balance of sweet malts, and fruity yeasts, wrapped in a blanket of warming, spicy vanilla from bourbon barrels.

For the (r)evolutionaries

Our whiskies are an exploration of how different yeast and barley varieties can be used to build multi-faceted flavours from the get-go. And after they have emerged from cask, well then, let’s just say that flavour is turned up to 11. It is like nothing you have ever tasted before.

the holyrood way

All whisky is made using water, yeast and barley, undergoing a distillation process before being matured in a cask, those are the facts.

 

Whilst others rely mostly on the cask for flavour, we like to consider it from the very beginning. Most distillers use standard yeast and barley as the base of their spirit, we are working with heritage and specialty malts (more often found in beer making) and we’re intertwining them with interesting yeast varieties from all over the drinks industry – think beer, wine, sake, champagne, you name it – we’ve tried it. And that means that flavour creation is happening way before we get to our casks – which are awesome too – that are sourced from interesting and highly-regarded producers worldwide.

 

 

Heritage Malts, 

Specialty Malts, 

& brewer’s, wine and specialty Yeast. 

 

We Test, Learn, Improve, Repeat

Heritage Barley Strains
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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
Speciality Malt Varieties
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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 
Yeast Strains
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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

Our New Make spirit is taken off of the still, and is the spirit that will eventually be matured to become Scotch Whisky. Each of our New Make Spirits showcase different ingredients not commonly seen in modern distilling, including heritage barleys, speciality malts, and a diverse range of yeast strains.

Discover our New Make Series

BREWER’S X DISTILLER’S YEAST

The first iteration of our Brewer’s Series, utilising American Ale Yeast and and Distiller’s M Yeast strain.

Crystal Malt

The second iteration of our Brewer’s Series, Crystal Malt a speciality malt used in brewing.

Chocolate Malt

The third iteration of our Brewer’s Series, Chocolate Malt a dark speciality malt typically used in brewing stouts and porters.

Made By Edinburgh

The culmination of our Brewer’s Series, a combination of ingredients from our previous 3 Brewer’s Series New Makes. A true reflection of Edinburgh.

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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.

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