10/03/2025
Chapter 40
A chat with...Calum Rae (Holyrood Distillery) - #36
This time, the spotlight is on a promising new Scottish distillery based in Edinburgh: Holyrood Distillery. Founded in 2019, it is a relatively young independent whisky distillery, already gaining attention despite its youth.
The distillery has quickly earned recognition for its innovative approach to whisky-making, focusing on small-batch production, experimentation, and the creation of unique flavours. The distillery strives to create high-quality single malts while paying homage to Scotland’s rich distilling heritage.
In the distiller’s lab at Holyrood Distillery hangs a large, yellow neon sign with four words: Test, Learn, Improve, Repeat. This reflects the distillery’s whisky mindset and approach that encourages exploration, learning, and the continuous creation of liquids that excite and inspire.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Calum Rae, the distillery manager, to learn how this philosophy is brought to life.
Let’s see what he told us…
Photo courtesy of Holyrood Distillery
Hi Calum, thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Please introduce yourself, and tell us a little bit about your whisky journey so far.
Hi, I’m Calum Rae, the distillery manager at Holyrood Distillery.
I have been managing Holyrood for about a year now after previously helping set up the Bonnington Distillery.
When and how did you join this growing industry?
I got my start at Eden Mill in Fife as a packaging assistant. This was my first exposure to the industry and really opened my eyes.
I then became a tour guide and quickly became fascinated with the creativity and expression that could come from making beer, gin and whisky. After realising I preferred the nitty-gritty of it all, I moved back to packaging briefly before becoming the assistant brewer there. This was the spark that made me realise I had found a vocation that I could really enjoy.
I learned everything I could in the short time I was in the role and then moved to Edinburgh to help start up Bonnington. Then, when the chance came up to jump over to Holyrood, I grabbed it with both hands!!
Photo courtesy of Holyrood Distillery
Now tell us a bit more about Holyrood Distillery, what is it that makes them stand out in the whisky industry?
Holyrood Distillery is the first single malt distillery in the centre of Edinburgh for nearly 100 years with a focus on flavour and innovation above all else.
We experiment with a wide variety of specialty and heritage malts, unique yeast strains and different production techniques in order to try to find new and exciting flavours within whisky. We are a relatively small distillery located in the middle of the city of Edinburgh and take pride in being a part of the city and all of the benefits and challenges that come with being an urban distillery.
The great part about being a new distillery is that we get to shape the character of our distillery and the spirit we produce. We are always learning and are passionate about being as transparent as we can be in order to share our learning with the wider whisky world.
Photo courtesy of Holyrood Distillery
Can you tell us what Holyrood Distillery's target audience is?
We have become a bit of a lighthouse for the whisky geeks due to the fact we publish some of our technical data on our bottles such as gravities and fermentation times. This is great as we love being a place where people can learn and “geek out” about whisky.
However, due to our location in the centre of Edinburgh, we also attract a large number of tourists. This is a lovely position to be in, as quite often we are the first Scottish distillery people have ever visited, and we love being able to welcome newcomers to the whisky world.
Myself, I am passionate about as many people as possible actually tasting and enjoying our whisky. Collections are great but I enjoy the way that cracking open a bottle can bring people together and this is my hope for Holyrood – that it makes its way to any and all whisky fans.
Photo courtesy of Holyrood Distillery
Can you tell us how you select your casks, and anticipate anything about what we can expect to see next?
Although we put a lot of our focus on our malt and yeast, our casks are the final pillar upon which we can build our whisky, so it’s very important to us to ensure they are of a high quality and suit our needs.
Due to the fact that a lot of our early work has been about learning how these malts and yeasts behave during maturation, we have filled into new oak casks to gather this data. As well as this, we have been lucky enough to source great Jerez region sherry casks and brilliant fresh bourbon barrels direct from the USA. We’ve sourced fantastic rum casks, through our Elizabeth Yard rum label, as well as port barrels. As we continue to develop and refine our spirit, we will be expanding into more exploratory cask types to continue to push the boundaries of single malt scotch.
Over the next couple of months, expect to see another flagship release as well as a few single cask offerings that will show what we have been up to…
What advice would you give to a beginner that is approaching this world and perhaps starting his/her own collection?
My advice would be don’t be afraid to ask questions. Everyone starts somewhere and most whisky folks are happy to give guidance or tips.
Another bit of advice would be don’t worry too much about disagreeing with someone. One of the great things about whisky and people’s taste is that it is all subjective. Whether a bottle costs £300 or £30, the most important thing to consider is if you enjoy it!
The final bit of advice is to try and find people to share whisky with. I think it is best enjoyed when it is shared out, acting sort of as a conversation starter.
Photo courtesy of Holyrood Distillery
Lastly, what is, generally speaking, your favourite whisky style (cask type, ageing, peated/unpeated etc.)? What’s your dram of choice at the moment and/or your go to drams on a Friday evening?
For me, as we approach Spring and then Summer (or as close as we get in Scotland) I like to enjoy something unpeated with some fruity character to it. Not too heavy, perfect for sipping on a long summer’s night.
Recently my Friday dram has been Glenlivet Caribbean cask. No frills, easy drinking. After a couple of them I have been enjoying our own single cask #147 released earlier in the year. It sold out in a single day so it has to be rationed very well!
Official website: https://holyrooddistillery.co.uk/
Drams
and more...
Today's drams
- Re-rack Series #1 – 59.7%
- Arrival (8,188 bottles) – 46.1%
- Ambir – 49.8%
- Embra – 43.6%