Raasay Hebridean Single Malt Scotch Whisky Cask #Batch R-01

An Isle of Raasay distillery bottling distilled in 2017, from cask Batch R-01 and bottled at 46.4%. Just 26000 bottles were filled. The Isle of Raasay Distillery opened in 2017, the first legal still on an island with a long history of illicit distilling. Every drop is distilled, matured and bottled on the island, using water from a Celtic Iron Age well.

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. A wine cask shaped it, dark fruit threading through the spirit. No age is given, but the lively fruit marks it as a young Raasay. The cool, damp island air gives a gentle maturation close to the sea. The island had a long history of illicit distilling before the first legal still arrived. Mineral rich water from the island well shapes the spirit before it meets the cask. The distillery does everything in house, from mashing to bottling, on the island.

At a full 46.4% it is deep and lively. The wine cask adds blackberry, plum and a red berry lift. It is lively and deep, the cask and fruit well matched. The finish runs sweet, spiced and lively. This is a characterful young malt made wholly on its island.