The City of Edinburgh Council has done a deal with a new distillery at the Engine Shed near Holyrood Park, bringing single malt whisky distilling back to the city after 90 years.
Former master distiller for The Macallan, David Robertson (pictured), is behind plans to open the Holyrood Park Distillery - a £2m boutique micro-distillery and visitor experience at the 1830s Engine Shed building in the heart of the city. The proposal is now subject to a planning application.
Robertson said, “The production and export of whisky is perhaps Scotland’s most iconic industry, supporting huge numbers of jobs, and visiting a distillery is a must for most visitors to Scotland. It seems to us that the one place missing a single malt distillery is Edinburgh, the capital of the country known for the world’s most famous whisky – Scotland.
“We hope to be able to create an immersive and entertaining visitor experience, supporting the local economy through jobs and training opportunities, while reinforcing the capital’s position as a world class tourism destination.
“The Engine Shed building is the ideal location for us to realise this ambition. With its history dating back to the 1830s, it will provide a fantastic home for us to create a small, but world class distillery and tourist destination of which Edinburgh can be proud.”
The Holyrood Park Distillery will be developed with the visitor experience in mind. Visitors will be able to follow the distillation process from start to finish, experiencing creation of the single malt first hand.
Holyrood Park Distillery will initially employ up to 25 staff at varying levels, from trainees right up to experienced distillery operators, tourism and production managers. The business aims to start distilling whisky by Summer 2016 and release a single malt whisky within four years.