Raasay 5 Years Old 2018 Westie Sponge (Decadent Drinks)

Bottled by Decadent Drinks, this Raasay, a Westie Sponge bottling, aged 5 year old, distilled in 2018 and bottled at 57.1%. The Isle of Raasay Distillery, opened in 2017, is the first legal distillery on its tiny Hebridean island. Water comes from Tobar na Ba Baine, the Well of the Pale Cow, a spring and borehole on the island.

It was worked through a lantern wash still with a cooling jacket and a swan neck spirit still, following a fermentation as long as 118 hours, drawing out a dark berry sweetness. An ex-Bourbon cask held it, soft oak giving vanilla and honey. At five years the cask has settled into the fruit, the spirit rounding out. Active wood and a vibrant new make mean the cask speaks early in the whisky's life. Every bottle is natural in colour and free of chill filtration. The Na Sia single casks let drinkers taste each thread of the six cask recipe.

At its natural 57.1% it is concentrated. The cask lends vanilla, baking spice and a honeyed sweetness, with a soft island smoke behind. Soft fruit and a clean malt sit behind the sweetness. A bright, berry led finish lingers. This is Raasay's fresh, fruit driven island style.