Embra: Holyrood paired its first peated whisky with drag and tarot
Edinburgh’s Holyrood Distillery is known for its boundary-pushing whisky-making. It’s a pioneer in process – part of its mission is to explore new recipes through heritage and speciality malts, and innovative yeast combinations. When I visited last year I was taken aback by the sheer number of possible variations when crafting batches. Blackboards line the wall behind the fermenters detailing every last nuance of the production run. The words ‘Test, Learn, Improve, Repeat’ literally light up the space. When it opened in 2019 it became Edinburgh’s first new distillery in almost 100 years. Refreshingly, it feels like the team is in the pursuit of a cultural newness around whisky, too.
When a sample of Embra arrived through my letterbox, Holyrood’s second release and its first peated expression, I was intrigued. Even more so when I tore open the box and its tasting notes were styled into a tarot card design. It was stunning – modern, bold, design-led. And that’s just the piece of paper, not the whisky (more on that shortly). But the choice of positioning and art direction felt more significant than that.
I saw through Instagram that a number of whisky friends had made it to the official Embra launch event at the distillery. My eyes widened when I saw the snaps. Not just because it looked like a gorgeous evening. But because, alongside a highly anticipated whisky launch, there was a drag artist doing tarot readings. I’d never seen anything like it before.
Tarot has been growing in popularity in the UK for a number of years now. It’s thought that the pandemic accelerated interest in the practice, shifting it into the mainstream. Depending on the practitioner, a specialist 78-card deck is used, with an individual selecting certain cards, laying them out in a specific way to help them work out how they feel about themselves and a situation they might be in. For many, a solo reading is an act of self-reflection. The demographics turning to tarot most with right now? Millennial and Gen Z groups, especially women and queer people. Not the groups you’d traditionally associate with whisky.
AND THIS IS WHY I LOVE IT. A 36-year-old lesbian who loves a foray into astrology and tarot (I even wrote a piece for Whisky Magazine that imagines the birth charts of new distilleries), this feels very me. Not just that, it feels relevant for my friends. Friends who occasionally enjoy a whisky, and friends who think whisky can’t possibly be for them. By launching Embra in this way, Holyrood has intentionally (I believe) opened up a space for these groups to see themselves reflected in the industry. An industry that has long been closed off, exclusive, and (I also believe intentionally) kept us out.
It feels joyful. Modern. A celebration. It feels real and purposeful. And there is literally no reason why whisky can’t be in these spaces. It also sets the bar and shows other brands and distilleries that they can be bold in how they reach these audiences. It’s a masterclass in authentic marketing. And it also celebrates queer performers. I’ve never seen Mystika Glamoor’s show, but now I really want to. I also want to credit Holyrood with hiring a queer drag performer. It’s an act of community solidarity at a time when queer and trans performers, and drag artists specifically, face harrowing persecution. It’s a powerful statement, as much as a creative one.
And the whisky! I’ve been sipping Embra while writing this, and it’s both pleasingly sippable, while offering a surprising amount of complexity. In true Holyrood style, there’s enormous transparency in its makeup. Its barley recipe is 56% heavily peated malt, 41% distilling malt, and 3% chocolate malt for good measure. I count a total of seven different yeast strains on the diagram, the most prominent being Nottingham ale and DY502 yeasts. Cask-wise, you’ve got predominantly first-fill bourbon, along with a peated Islay quarter cask, and a smattering of American new oak, too. I adore this level of detail – it’s fun to dig into it, but you don’t have to.
When I tasted Embra ‘properly’ I found a surprising sweetness on the nose. There were loads of aromatic citrus peels, rhubarb and custard sweets, and maybe even Polos – of course backed by a kind of medicinal smoke. The palate was much deeper, richer and more sumptuous, with a mossy earthiness lifted by blackcurrant jam, apple pie, croissants and dark chocolate. Don’t worry – the smoke is there with a pretty sizeable swoosh. The finish lingers on long, dominated by the smoke, but also a smattering of sweet spices. When I’m sipping it now I’m struck by the interplay of smoke and that fresh fruit sweetness – it’s got a fun energy to it, and it’s a treat to tuck into. In the words of distillery manager Calum Rae, the unique recipe and process “creates the perfect balance of bold smoky flavours and textures of peated whisky, while still being accessible to a new whisky drinker”. I agree.
In the spirit of Embra, I pick out a tarot card to round off my time with the dram. I’m thinking about work, whisky, the industry, my place in it. I get The Hierophant, a card I’ve never pulled before. She represents systems, hierarchies, doctrines, traditions. It’s a card that invites you to think about these, and whether you want to challenge them. How you might work to achieve that dismantling. It feels so fitting. And it’s exactly what Holyrood is doing with Embra.
