Raasay Awakening Cask #21/1231

A distillery release of Isle of Raasay from the Special Release, from cask 21/1231 and bottled at 60.9%. The Isle of Raasay Distillery opened in 2017, the first legal still on an island with a long history of illicit distilling. The flagship marries peated and unpeated spirit from rye, Chinquapin oak and Bordeaux casks.

It was drawn off a lantern wash still and a straight necked spirit still, following a long ferment that lends the new make a blackberry lift. Maturation in sherry quarter casks drove a fast, rich dried fruit character. Carrying no age, it leans on vivid fruit and active cask character. The young spirit takes colour and flavour readily from the active casks. Raasay is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, just east of Skye. The six cask recipe of rye, Chinquapin oak and Bordeaux wine is unique in Scotch. Peated and unpeated spirit are matured apart, then married for the flagship malt.

Bottled at a cask strength 60.9%, it is intense. The Pedro Ximenez lends raisin, date and treacle over a gentle wisp of peat. The texture is bright and juicy, the fruit lifted by the cask. A long, sweet finish carries a gentle smoke. This is the first legal single malt of the Isle of Raasay.