Robert and Kelly Carpenter, a husband and wife from Canada, were responsible for establishing the Canadian branch of the SMWS, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, in 2011. The couple had spent several years exploring, learning and discovering Scotch, and when the opportunity came up to help establish the Canadian branch, the couple set to work and quickly helped grow SMWS’s presence in Canada.
A love for whisky, Scotland, distilling and the people in the wider whisky community all helped inspire and motivate the couple to take an even more significant leap of faith and set out on their journey to establish a new single malt whisky distillery in Edinburgh. Yes, Edinburgh. Not Alberta, Toronto, Calgary or anywhere remotely close to where they lived. Edinburgh, Scotland.
Kelly studied for her Master’s Degree in Edinburgh, so the couple knew the city well. Robert and Kelly discovered that it had been over ninety years since the last single malt whisky distillery had produced whisky in Edinburgh. They understood there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvigorate the city’s long-lost whisky heritage with a new distillery producing exciting, creative, and original whisky alongside a range of new Scottish Gins.
With the support of various investors, the couple, along with business partner David Robertson, former master distiller of The Macallan, officially opened the Holyrood Distillery in 2019. Housed in a former three-storey railway goods shed built in 1831, the building has been carefully and sympathetically repurposed from its original industrial origins to a modern distillery and visitors centre while retaining many of the building’s original and unique character that first caught Robert and Kelly’s attention.
The distillery is both a whisky and gin distillery, with the ground and first floors dedicated to whisky and the second floor home to the production of other spirits, including a range of Scottish Gins. It uses a bespoke spirit still designed by Slovenian still manufacturer Svarog Sistemi and former distillery manager Jack Mayo. The still features a unique design that allows a variety of distilling techniques to be utilised depending on the botanicals being distilled.
The distillery and its range of spirits have continued to grow and evolve, allowing the Holyrood Distillery to cement its place in Scottish distilling whilst staying true to its co-founder’s ambitions of producing truly original spirits that showcase aroma, flavour, and taste.
Height of Arrows Gin is a gin created with whisky in mind. Drawing on the idea that whisky’s myriad of flavours relies on a handful of ingredients, Height of Arrows is stripped back to the core, featuring juniper, beeswax and salt, lending layers of texture and full-bodied flavour to the gin. On the nose, a balance of clean, fresh pine and resin coupled with light citrus. On the palate, an oily mouthfeel coated with juicy and rich orange zest and lemon, then a bold emergence of black pepper and cardamom, tempered with tapered herbaceous smoothness. The long, dry finish is rounded and balanced with effervescent spicy notes.
Key Botanical(s): Juniper, Beeswax, Sea Salt
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 43% ABV
Goes great with: In a classic gin cocktail, such as a Gibson or Negroni.
All expressions in the Height of Arrows Gin range are stripped back to the core, featuring only juniper, beeswax and salt, lending layers of texture and full bodied flavour to the gin. This Bright expression is multi-shot, which is a gin distilling technique that concentrates botanical flavour. Bright uses triple the amount of juniper, beeswax and sea salt as the original Height of Arrows Gin, which makes for a hugely flavoursome, bright gin. On the nose, bold juniper with citrus, pepper and clove notes. On the palate, earthy with touches of sweet baking spices. On the finish, clean and dry.
Key Botanical(s): Juniper, Beeswax, Sea Salt
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 48% vol
Goes great with: Tonic and ice.
All expressions in the Height of Arrows Gin range are stripped back to the core, featuring only juniper, beeswax and salt, lending layers of texture and full bodied flavour to the gin. Roasting spices has long been known to add more complex flavours in cooking. This Heavy recipe includes roasted juniper, likened to dark malted barley, extracting more flavour to build a robust juniper-heavy expression of Height of Arrows. Heavy has been sweetened with a little sugar post distillation to achieve an Old Tom style of gin that is powerful yet beautifully balanced. On the nose, white blossom, citrus and vanilla aromas. On the palate, more vanilla with a prickle of spicy juniper. On the finish, a final hint of spice with herbaceous juniper lingering.
Key Botanical(s): Juniper, Beeswax, Sea Salt
Gin Style: Old Tom
Strength: 46% ABV
Goes great with: Serve neat straight from the freezer or in a Martini or Gin Sour.
Holyrood Distillery sits under the watchful eye of Arthur’s Seat, the central peak that forms the Holyrood hills that dominate Edinburgh’s skyline. Holyrood Distillery provides a range of visitor experiences covering both Scottish Gin and Whisky, along with a shop, bar, and outdoor seating area. There are several Scottish Gin experiences covering everything from the history of gin to the gin-making process, cocktail making and a guided gin tasting experience.
Tour: Yes
Bar: Yes
Shop: Yes
Booking: Learn more about Holyrood Distillery experiences here
Learn more about Holyrood Distillery by visiting the links below.
