Holyrood: Arrival (Scotland Lowland Single Malt Whisky: 46.1% ABV)
Visual: Deep rich gold. Fast thick streaks come from the spirit.
Nose: Thick. Dark honey. Toffee apples. Fresh brown rice. Water adds pears.
Body: Smooth but warming. Dark honey. Toffee apple. Treacle touch. Pear drops. Water makes smoother and adds choc toffee.
Finish: Brown rice. Slightly notable alcohol. Brown bread. Water adds apples and pears. Burnt brown sugar. Hot cross buns. Choc toffee.
Conclusion: When I first tried this I was not too impressed, while a lowland whisky it reminded me of the more generic highland malt notes, flat without any of the extra umph that makes highland whiskies work. It was impressive in that it was pretty smooth for its age, decent enough but very generic.
As always it seems a bit of time in an open bottle to let it open up helps a whisky massively. It still has dark honey, heavy with a very highland like base, and a weighty feel. There is a touch of alcohol noticeable but like a lot of the new distilleries if you were not told you would never guess this thing’s young age.
Now though, after a bit of time in an open bottle, it has a soft toffee apple character that makes it a lot more enjoyable. If you are willing to add a touch of water then it really accentuates that fruit character, giving clearer, speyside like apple and pear notes. Its never super heavy on the fruit, the dominant character being the sweetness developing into a choc toffee way that is a nice contrast to the lighter notes. Now with a bit of time and water it really feels like the whisky has found its own distinct character.
While still not the most complex thing it is much more enjoyable, water had reduced the remaining more evident alcohol notes and that makes this a real smooth easy sipping whisky. A solid whisky like this, if not a must have – it feels like a very solid base for future, more aged expressions to build upon.
Background: Sooooo, sometimes I take a while to do notes on something I have. By which I mean I bought this from Independent Spirit when it was released tail end 2023. I opened it tail end 2024. I am now finally doing notes on it. I may not be fast but I get there in the end. This was the first release from the Edinburgh Holyrood distiller, matured in Oloroso, PX Rum and Bourbon barrels, fermented for 104 hours using distillers yeast, DY379 and DY502 – they are doing a lot to try and offset its young age. One of 8188 bottles, I am drinking mine so anyone hoping to flip theirs, yours just got worth more money. I had recently watched Cradle Of Filth live when I did these notes, so put on their Dusk and Her Embrace as background music.
