Urban spirit

Most malt whisky is made in rural locations such as Campbeltown, Islay and Speyside, yet many new-wave distilleries are emerging in Scotland’s cities. Edinburgh is already home to Bonnington and Holyrood, which will soon be joined by Port of Leith – Scotland’s first vertical distillery – while Glasgow has its eponymous distillery and Clydeside on its riverbank.

Distillers pick urban sites due to their love for their hometowns and a desire to revive lost traditions. Scotland’s cities boasted scores of Victorian distilleries before falling demand whittled down their numbers.

‘ With Edinburgh’s food and drink culture, it seemed like a massive hole not to have a malt distillery here,’ points out Nick Ravenhall, managing director at Holyrood, which was built in an old railway yard. ‘ Edinburgh is a hot spot for tourism, so we can attract a big audience.’

‘ There are plenty of distilleries in the Highlands, Speyside and Islay, but we wanted to be a contemporary urban distillery,’ adds Liam Hughes, co-founder of The Glasgow Distillery. ‘ We’re proud to be blazing a trail.’