Holyrood Distillery — Lowland Single Malt Whisky

Holyrood Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Edinburgh, Lowland, Scotland. It was founded in 2019 and is currently owned by its founders, Rob Carpenter, Kelly Carpenter, and David Robertson. It holds the distinction of being the first new whisky distillery built in Edinburgh's city centre in almost a century.

History

Holyrood Distillery occupies the former goods shed of St Leonard's railway station, a Category B listed building in Edinburgh's Old Town. The site was secured with council approval in 2015 and granted planning permission in 2016. Founders Rob and Kelly Carpenter, who had previously run a Canadian branch of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, teamed up with David Robertson, a veteran of Macallan, to raise around £5.8 million to fund construction, which began in 2018. The distillery opened to visitors in 2019, becoming the first new distillery to operate within Edinburgh in nearly one hundred years. Alongside whisky, Holyrood produces gin under the Height of Arrows label. The distillery released its debut single malt, Arrival, in October 2023, followed by its Founding Series of experimental releases (Embra, Ambir and Pitch), exploring different peat levels, malt varieties, and yeast strains. In 2025 Holyrood was named "Distiller of the Year" at the World Whiskies Awards.

Quick Facts

• Region: Lowland
• Founded: 2019
• Owner: Rob Carpenter, Kelly Carpenter and David Robertson (independent, founder-owned)
• Status: Active
• Stills: 1 wash still, 1 spirit still

Core Range

Holyrood's core single malt releases include Arrival, the distillery's debut expression, and the Founding Series — Embra (a peated malt), Ambir (made with specialty malts), and Pitch (fermented with a specialty yeast) — with limited-edition Re-Rack cask-finished releases added from 2025. The distillery also bottles an experimental "Strong Waters" series using heritage barley varieties, and produces a single-botanical gin, Height of Arrows.