A £3.6 MILLION malt whisky distillery is planned for a former engine shed in the cobbled streets of the Scottish capital.
The Holyrood Park Distillery at St Leonard’s Lane will be Edinburgh’s first single malt whisky distillery since Glen Sciennes closed in the 1920s.
David Robertson, project lead of the Holyrood Park Distillery, said it will initially produce only 53,000 litres of alcohol per year, with about 140,000 bottles of mature single malt in eight to 12 years’ time.
The Holyrood Park Distillery will also employ about 25 staff at varying levels, from trainees up to experienced distillery operators and tourism and production managers once it starts distilling in 2017, if approved.
Mr Robertson, former master distiller for The Macallan, said: “We are very excited by the prospect of resurrecting the proud tradition of distilling single malt whisky in Edinburgh.
“We have submitted plans which outline our vision to bring single malt whisky distilling back to Edinburgh and have worked closely with local residents and businesses to build a proposal that we hope will benefit the local community as well as Edinburgh as a whole.
“Our vision is to create beautiful, hand-crafted spirits and the engine shed building is the ideal location for us to realise this ambition.”
He added: “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 distillery will have an education facility as a community and school resource and there are hopes for a weekend market in the courtyard.
Nearby Glen Sciennes was the last single malt whisky distillery to operate in Edinburgh.
The distillery’s maltings were sited near the engine shed before its closure in 1925 and later demolition.
Following the move by Edinburgh City Council to enter into a lease with the Holyrood Park Distillery in August last year, the team behind the development said it has held consultations with residents and businesses to shape plans and it has “taken neighbours’ feedback on board in the final proposals” now submitted to planners.
In the late 1700s, the capital had eight licensed distilleries and it is estimated that there may have been as many as 400 illegal stills. Urban production fell out of fashion but is currently enjoying a boom, with distilleries popping up in cities such as New York and London.
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