Holyrood Ambir

“Wait nearly 100 years for a single malt distillery in Edinburgh, and two pop up at once” we said in Nov. Here’s the other one! Truly one of Scotland's new wave of innovative distillers, this fruity, buttery beauty is the distillery’s third release. Established in 2019 in Edinburgh’s historic old town, they take influence from the city’s rich brewing history.

That’s certainly the case with Ambir, which features 4 speciality malts: Chocolate Malt, Vienna malt, Crystal 240 and Caramalt. Combined they make up about 17% of the mashbill, but these are malts with big flavours rarely seen in whisky so they make a big contribution. 10(!) different yeasts are also used, including Belgian ale yeast and even a little wine yeast. Maturation took place largely in first and second fill bourbon casks, with just over 10% in oloroso casks. Take all that together, and this is a sweet, fruity delight.