The Isle of Raasay Distillery
A New Distillery on a Tiny Scottish Isle
The Isle of Raasay is a very short ferry ride from Skye. It is tiny. Tucked between the Isle of Skye to the West and the Scottish mainland to the East, it is just 14 miles long and 4 miles wide. The Norse name “Raasay” means Isle of the Roe, or Red, Deer. The 24 square miles of land that make up the island are home to a population of only 161 people.
In addition to enjoying the island's abundant flora, visitors can also catch glimpses of its rare wildlife including golden eagles, sea eagles and the unique Raasay vole. Offshore in the Sound, otters and seals play and hunt, dolphins are regular visitors and the occasional basking shark or minke whale passes close by.
There is also a road there connecting the “town”, Brochel, to the North of the Island. It is imaginatively called “Calum’s Road”. Calum McLeod was a postman, lighthouse keeper and crofter. He travelled daily between Brochal and a place further North called Arnish. After the local council refused to fund a road, he decided to build one himself. It took him almost 20 years to complete it using a pick, a shovel and a wheelbarrow!
On 14th September 2017, the Isle of Raasay Distillery opened its doors and spirit was flowing. The island’s first legal distillation had finally taken place.
The Isle of Rasaay Distillery
An additional attraction appeared in 2017; The Isle of Raasay Distillery. It is the brainchild of Co-founders Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day who first met in 2013 and formed R&B Distillers with the common goal of building Scotland’s leading artisanal distiller. Focusing on local production, provenance, quality and doing things differently.
Inspiration for the Isle of Raasay Single Malt came from some older styles of Hebridean single malts. A lightly peated whisky, balanced with rich dark fruit flavours.
On 14th September 2017, the Isle of Raasay Distillery opened its doors and spirit was flowing. The island’s first legal distillation had finally taken place.
Since its establishment, the Isle of Raasay Distillery has brought job opportunities to the island, worked closely with other local businesses and become embedded in the island’s tight-knit community. Part of the distillery’s ethos is to produce, mature, bottle and market every drop of spirit directly from the island. This seeks to maximise the influence of the island on the spirit, and the distillery on the island.
The distillery now employs more than 30 people on the island and the average age of the Raasay workforce is approximately 30 years old. An early indicator of creating inter-generational values and making sure this special island of 161 people continues to thrive.
The Whisky
For their first whisky, they’ve used a clever combination of casks. The mix is 60% ex-Rye whisky casks, 30% French Bordeaux, and 10% virgin Chinkapin Oak. And 50% of each of these is peated, the other 50% un-peated. Making up a combination of 6 single casks. For me, the Chinkapin is the real hero here – it lends the colour and the candied sweetness that dominate this whisky. The distillery is also releasing single cask bottlings of the individual parts of this fine mix. Watch out for those!
I was lucky enough (my younger daughter bought me a seat at an online tasting – THANK YOU!) to sample each of the 6 ingredient whiskies. The tasting was run by Steve and Eilidh, and we were a group of ten people dialing in. Not only did we get an expert talk and tasting of the 6 ingredients, we heard about the distillery and it’s wonderful small hotel accomodation alongside the distillery. Thanks Steve and Eilidh!
My bottle of Raasay is a gift boxed bottle complete with 2 tasting glasses. It looks nice, right? Look closer and you can see a Raasay fossil indented into the glass bottle which makes a perfect place for your thumb when pouring a dram. And not only does it look good, the contents tastes good too!
Nose
Fresh and floral. Apricots and cherry. A certain sickly sweetness, like candyfloss or toffee apples – brings to mind a late summer evening at a fair.
Taste
For a young whisky, you are in for a pleasant surprise. It certainly lacks a certain viscosity, but it’s not harsh and there’s not much burn like many young whiskies. Candyfloss comes to mind again first, though there’s more depth here than the nose. I do get some pepper, along with that signature Skye saltiness trademarked by their somewhat larger neighbour.
Finish
The floral funfair flavours (say that three times fast!) fade, and a cinnamon-led spiciness lingers. Some very faint medicinal flavours also emerge here.
Wrap Up
At 60€ a bottle (or thereabouts) this is a fine whisky. It is young, but doesn't broadcast it from its nose and taste. Worth investing in a bottle!
One final piece of news. The success so far of this distillery has inspired them to consider building a second distillery. Cheekily in the backyard of Springbank, Glen Scotia and Glengyle in Campbeltown. In Macrihanish to be more precise. I look forward to seeing the progress there!
