the cask room
According to Scottish Whisky Law, our New Make Spirit must be filled into oak casks and left to mature for a minimum of 3 years.
Our casks come from all over the world, with most of them having previously been used to mature other alcohol spirits such as red wine, port, Madeira, sherry, rum and bourbon.
THE NEW MAKE SPIRIT DRAWS COLOUR PIGMENTS OUT OF THE TOASTED WOOD. OILS ARE COLLECTED, ADDING TO THE WHISKY’S TEXTURE.
We also develop flavour with the variety of oak greatly impacting the characteristics gained by a whisky:
american oak
Notes of vanilla, caramel and coconut.
European Oak
Notes of spice, cinnamon and dried fruit.
WE love to mature our whiskies in a variety of different casks, to build complexity of spirits.
Over time, the cask breathes, the whisky will soften and develop a smoother texture. Liquid content is also lost over time, with an average of 1.5-2% evaporating out of the cask in Scotland. The evaporated whisky is called the “Angel’s Share”.
This is a good way of understanding why older whisky is more expensive, as there is physically less of it with every year spent in the cask.
Age isn’t important for us at Holyrood, we focus on flavour.
Our whisky
Embra
embra
Embra is our second Single Malt release, and is a continuation into our journey of progression, innovation and experimentation.
The name (Embra) is a colloquial term for Edinburgh, our home city and our inspiration.
It is bottled at 43.6%, non-chill filtered, has no added colouring
recipe
TASTING NOTES
Character
Our second release brings fresh sweetness and soft smoke.
PALATE
FINISH
Thank you for taking part in one of our Holyrood Distillery experiences. If you would like to extend your time with us, feel free to spend some time in our distillery bar. We have a delicious cocktail menu and a range of local beers from Edinburgh breweries. If you would like to sample any more of our spirits, you can do this in the distillery shop.
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On the final page is a list of key terms if you want to keep on learning about whisky.
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If you’d like more information about certain terminology used throughout the tour, follow the link to find our list of key terms.