PR invite // All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.
Holyrood Distillery has launched a new whisky called Embra – which will be available from the 15th March 11.00. I was lucky enough to attend the launch which was a lovely evening of food, whisky and even a mysterious tarot reading!
The event kicked off with a lovely cocktail which had Holyrood Distillery new make, rosé, elderflower, rhubarb and sofa which was the perfect refreshment to sip on as we did a little tour of the distillery.
Embra: a new whisky from Holyrood Distillery
Following the tour we sat down in the “maturation” room where a lovely table was set and before indulging in a menu from the team at Wedgewood, we got a tasting of the new whisky Embra from distillery manager Callum Rae.
Embra is Release #2 and consists of 56% heavily peated malt, 41% distilling malt, 3 % chocolate malt which has been made using various wine yeasts, ale yeasts and distilling yeasts. The peat is from from the highlands and the whisky was matured in primarily first fill ex-bourbon casks and a small percentage in new oak and ex-Islay quarter casks. It is bottled at 43.6% but is also non chill-filtered – something you don’t see too often.
I got soft pine, summer bbq coal and green fruits on the nose. The palate has a coal smoke which was fairly soft and slightly spicy, but the character of the whisky is so approachable, fruity and friendly! Especially for its age. Even if you are someone who’s not so keen on smoky whiskies, I’d still recommend trying this as it’s one of the most gentle peated whiskies I’ve tried. Compared to Arrival (the first release) I’d say this has more of a bourbon character, is a bit less sweet and of course has that coal smoke.
Food from Wedgewood
To end the night we enjoyed a little tasting menu from Wedgewood, where my favourite dish was a fried pheasant bao with pickled cucumber and my favourite cocktail was the Rusty Girder with red pepper cordial, Holyrood Distillery Embra, Irn Bru, passionfruit and spiced honey liqueur.
We also got to go up one by one and get a little tarot reading from Mystika Glamoor. I got the High Priestess which aligned perfectly with what I’m trying to achieve this year… Stay tuned!
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