Review #836 - Holyrood Embra
In April 2026, we attended a tasting hosted by local specialty spirits shop Storied Company; this tasting was led by the owners of Sacks Dynamic Operations, a company that owns US-based spirits importer ‘Scotch Drinkers Only.’ This importer focuses on independent bottlers and high-quality craft distilleries; some of the brands they represent are Annandale distillery, Holyrood distillery, and indies such as Cree, Lady of the Glen, and Living Souls. We went through a selection of 7 whiskies on the night; this review is 1 of those 7.
The Embra release from Holyrood distillery is their first foray into peated whisky. This single malt is considered lightly peated; like the distillery's other releases, the production of this whisky focuses on a combination of malt types, yeast strains, and cask types. For this release, this was the breakdown for the malts:
56% heavily peated malt
41% distilling malt
3% chocolate malt
They also give us a breakdown of the different yeasts used, which is an unusual detail to have access to, but quite interesting:
37.41% DY502
32.71% Nottingham ale yeast
18.71% DY379
5.93% passion fruit wine yeast
4.53% Tetley 70
<0.5% Granzin wine yeast
<0.5% BE256 Belgian ale yeast
After distillation, this single malt was then aged in 3 types of casks: predominantly first fill ex-bourbon casks, but also some peated ex-Islay quarter casks (probably sourced from Laphroaig?) and a small amount of new American oak.
So, all in all, there's quite a bit going on in this whisky, but based on the malt profile leaning heavily toward the peated side of things, as well as the use of some ex-Islay casks, we're expecting this to be a smoky experience.
Holyrood Embra
Scotland/Lowland - Single Malt
Price: USD 89 (2026)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 43.6% ABV
Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon, ex-Islay quarter casks, and new American oak
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; bottled 2024
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle at 50% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a nosing glass, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Smoky, with brighter scents like custard, green fruit like lime, and some mushy lemons behind that. There's a touch of charcoal and hint of minerality as well, and with time, this grows more musty.
Palate: Light and sweet, quite bright, with some white chocolate. There is some peat smoke influence, but it's relatively soft; more sweetness comes from toasted marshmallows and vanilla.
Finish: Sweet, gooey marshmallows, almost like s'mores with some chocolate notes as well. The smoky side is quite soft, and we get sweetened soda water in the aftertaste.
Final Note: This single malt is pleasant enough, but we did find it to be quite soft and simple. Actually, the nose was quite nice with some fruity notes, the mild lactic side from the custard, and some minerality; the palate has a nice chocolate-vanilla combination in addition to the smoke, but we didn't find much more outside of that. A nice base with good distillate, but this one needs a bit more time to develop more complexity.
Value is a little weak in our opinion as well, at least at the price point of $85 to $90, which is what we have to pay in our area.
Our Rating: 6.0 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.38
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other Holyrood reviews:
