The newest Edinburgh distillery (and the first single malt whisky distillery in the city for a century) will open at the end of the month.
And booking has already opened for the range of daily guided tours with tickets for adults starting at £14.
The opening day, 30 July 2019, will be pretty historic as the last single malt distillery here, The Edinburgh Distillery or Glen Sciennes, closed in 1925.
Holyrood Distillery will commence with gin and move onto whisky in the fullness of time. It has been built within an 1831 railway goods shed on the edge of Holyrood Park. There will be a shop as well as a distillery making this a new visitor attraction. Canadian Rob Carpenter is behind the new venture. He established the Canadian branch of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society with his wife Kelly and the Holyrood Distillery is a joint venture with David Robertson who has a quarter of a century’s experience in the industry.
Spirit production will be handled by distillery manager Jack Mayo, previously of The Glasgow Distillery, alongside distillers Ollie Salvesen and Elizabeth Machin. All three are graduates of Heriot-Watt University’s renowned Brewing and Distilling course. In total, the project has already created 30 new jobs.
Founder Rob Carpenter said: “I’m thrilled to announce that we’ll open the doors to our distillery on Tuesday 30th July. It’s been an incredible journey to get to this point, and to be able to bring back single malt whisky back to the heart of Edinburgh for the first time in almost 100 years is a true privilege. A big thank you is also owed to our neighbours who have been patient with the build over the past year.”
Debs Newman, Holyrood’s Visitor Experience director, added: “Today is a big day for us as we open up our bookings for our range of tours. Offering great tours for our visitors is an integral part of the distillery design, and there are a range of tours available to visitors to suit all levels of interest, with even more variety to come in future.
“Given our location in the centre of Edinburgh, we’re within easy walking distance of the city’s major attractions so we’re ready to welcome everyone, from locals to tourists, to explore what we have created and the amazing world of flavour in both whisky and gin.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
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