Edinburgh distillery secures over £2m in funding to support international growth plans

The £2 million plus deal will be used to release capital from Holyrood’s maturing cask inventory in order to fund new fill casks and export cased goods to overseas markets.

Holyrood Distillery plans to undertake a programme of new product releases and international expansion throughout 2024 for its whisky, gin and rum brands.

Founded in 2019 by Canadian couple Rob and Kelly Carpenter and Scotland native David Robertson, the distillery released its inaugural whisky, named Arrival, in October of last year. The firm claims that Arrival is one of the first single malt whiskies to be produced in Edinburgh in a century.

Meanwhile, Ferovinum is a funding platform dedicated to the wine and spirits industry, that utilises its own proprietary technology that is deployed to meet the specific funding and growth needs of its partners.

The platform works by holding ring-fenced assets during production, storage, global distribution and retail fulfilment, which provides companies with the ability to convert their maturing stock into capital at any point. This technology is also integrated with supply chain, logistics and other business functions to deliver efficiencies.

‘Holyrood Distillery has ambitious plans in place’

Holyrood Distillery managing director Huw Wright said that the partnership with Ferovinum had allowed the firm to “unlock​” its future plans earlier than projected and with “ease and speed​”.

“The Ferovinum team go above and beyond to be true partners, finding solutions to any hurdles that arise,” ​Wright continued.

“Holyrood Distillery has some ambitious plans in place so we require partners who can keep up, see the vision and enhance it. This is exactly why Ferovinum was chosen and asked to come on board, and we are thrilled that they have agreed to come along on this exciting journey with us.”​

Founded in 2018 by Mitchel Fowler and Daniel Gibney, Ferovinum was initially launched to support the UK’s burgeoning wine industry, but expanded into the whisky and spirits sector in 2022

Director of spirits at Ferovinum, Gregor Mathieson, praised the Holyrood Distillery team for “leading a bold new era of modern whisky making​” to the heart of Edinburgh, describing the firm’s progress as a “remarkable feat​”.

Mathieson added: “Following the success of their excellent first single malt Arrival, this is their time to grow, and to showcase their highly innovative and extraordinarily good spirits to the world.​

“Their need for partners who share their ambition, and who can provide genuine, specialist and hands-on support, means they are a perfect fit for Ferovinum and our technology. With the brilliant foundation they have put in place, we know that Holyrood’s spirits are ready for take-off, and we are very proud to be playing a part in their ongoing success.”​

In other news, Food Manufacture speaks to Fettercairn Distillery manager Stewart Walker about his lifelong association with the business and its approach to whisky making that has been 200 years in the making.​​