Isle of Raasay whiskies

History

The distillery was born from the project of two whisky entrepreneurs looking for a place in the islands to start from scratch. They chose Raasay, an island with barely a few hundred inhabitants, and restored an old Victorian house as a visitor centre and accommodation. While their whisky matured, they launched a young spirit and a gin to make the brand known. Their first official malt, at least three years old, came onto the market in 2020, and since then the range has added special editions and versions with different casks.

House style

Isle of Raasay’s malt blends lightly peated and unpeated spirit, and matures it in American rye whiskey, red wine and bourbon casks. The result is fruity and spicy, with red fruit, pepper, soft smoke and a briny touch. It is bottled at 46.4% ABV, without chill filtration. It is a young but very aromatic malt, with plenty of personality. It is a malt worth trying neat and with a few drops of water, which open up the fruit and soften the rye spice.

Where to start

Isle of Raasay Single Malt is the catalogue’s benchmark and the natural way to get to know the distillery. If you like its blend of smoke and fruit, compare it with Talisker 10, its neighbour on Skye, much more marked by peat and the sea, and with Ardnamurchan AD/, another young west coast malt.

• Isle of Raasay Single MaltSingle malt · 46.4% ABV