Raasay Na Sia Single Cask Series 3 Years Old 2019 (61.9%)

A distillery release of Isle of Raasay from the Na Sia Single Cask Series, aged 3 year old, distilled in 2019, from cask 19/50 and bottled at 61.9%. Only 276 bottles were released. The Isle of Raasay Distillery opened in 2017, the first legal still on an island with a long history of illicit distilling. The house makes both peated and unpeated spirit, married across six signature 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. An ex-Bourbon cask held it, soft oak giving vanilla and honey. At a youthful age the new make character shines, lifted by first fill wood. Maturation on the island, beside the sea, lends a clean coastal freshness. 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.

Undiluted at 61.9%, it is powerful and fruity. The cask lends vanilla, baking spice and a honeyed sweetness over a gentle wisp of peat. The mouthfeel is round, the berry fruit carried on a sweet body. Dark fruit and spice see out a long finish. This is a lively single malt from the Inner Hebrides.