Single Malt 1st Fill Oloroso Hogshead Golden Promise Barley 'Full Cask' No 231
⏳ Drinking Window
Enjoyable immediately upon release; can be kept indefinitely when stored properly unopened.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Dark chocolate, blue cheese, roasted venison
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the heart of Edinburgh, this single malt represents a historic revival of distilling in the Scottish Lowlands. Crafted from Golden Promise—a legendary heritage barley variety prized for its rich, oily texture and sweet, robust flavor profile—this spirit undergoes fermentation with select yeasts before being matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry hogsheads. The use of first-fill Oloroso casks infuses the whisky with deep, luxurious notes of dried figs, dark chocolate, and warm baking spices, beautifully complementing the heavy, cereal-forward character of the Golden Promise distillate. This expression showcases Holyrood's dedication to flavor-first distilling, marrying traditional heritage ingredients with innovative modern techniques.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 2019 by Rob and Kelly Carpenter alongside former Macallan master distiller David Robertson, Holyrood Distillery marked the return of single malt whisky distillation to central Edinburgh after nearly a century of absence. Housed within a restored 1830s railway goods shed beneath Arthur's Seat in the Lowlands, Holyrood operates with an innovative, flavor-first distilling ethos deeply informed by Edinburgh's historic brewing heritage. Rather than conforming to traditional regional conventions, the distillery experiments extensively with diverse malt varieties—including heirloom, chocolate, and crystal barleys—along with an array of specialty brewing, wine, and sake yeast strains. Utilizing washbacks with extended fermentations and tall copper pot stills, Holyrood captures distinct ester and phenolic profiles before aging spirit in meticulously selected casks. Benchmark expressions include their inaugural single malts Arrival, Ambir, and Embra, alongside singular single-cask trials showcasing red wine, sake yeast, and peated variants.
🍇 Base Material
Golden Promise Barley