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Plans submitted for Edinburgh whisky distillery
Edinburgh’s first single malt whisky distillery in more than 90 years has moved one step closer to becoming a reality after a formal planning application was submitted last week.
Holyrood Park Distillery plans to start production in the summer of 2017
In August last year, David Robertson, former master distiller of The Macallan and co-founder of rare whisky indexing and brokerage firm RW101, entered into a lease with the City of Edinburgh Council to transform the Engine Shed building on St. Leonard’s Lane into a micro-distillery and visitor experience.
The 19th century building, previously used as a goods warehouse for the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway, is owned by Lothian Regional Council and was recently renovated before its lease to a social enterprise.
A planning application to turn the building into the £3.6 million Holyrood Park Distillery, which will have capacity to produce 100,000 litres of alcohol per year and employ at least 25 people, has now been submitted to the council.
If approved, the site will become Edinburgh’s first single malt whisky distillery since Glen Sciennes closed in 1925. Holyrood Park plans to start distilling in summer 2017 and release its first whisky in 2020.
The distillery claims that its visitor experience will be “hands-on, immersive and distinctly different from any other distillery”, and will feature a weekly food market to showcase local products.
“The distillery marks the revival of an industry which was at the heart of St. Leonard’s until 1925, providing new investment and employment opportunities,” the company said, adding that “99% of maturation” will take place away from the Engine Shed site.
Speaking to The Spirits Business earlier this year, David Robertson said Holyrood Park will feature a column still to create vodka and gin, and will experiment with yeast and barely for its whisky.
“I think the smaller guys who have got a blank sheet of paper can be innovative but with the big companies it’s more difficult to shift the oil tanker,” he said. “Some of them are innovating, but others are just milking the cow.”