Raasay Rye and Sherry Double Cask Cask #22/666

This Isle of Raasay single malt from the Distillery Special Release, from cask 22/666 and bottled at 58.6%. Raasay is a modern island distillery, the first legal one on this small Hebridean isle off the coast of Skye. Long fermentations of up to five days build a sweet blackberry note before the spirit meets the cask.

Distilled on water from the island well in Italian built copper stills, the make carried a blackberry fruit from its long fermentation. A sherry cask laid raisin and walnut over the bright distillate. No age is given, but the lively fruit marks it as a young Raasay. Quarter casks and first fill wood drive a fast, generous extraction at this young age. 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. The island had a long history of illicit distilling before the first legal still arrived.

Undiluted at 58.6%, it is powerful and fruity. The Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry bring raisin, date, fig and walnut, with a soft island smoke behind. Soft fruit and a clean malt sit behind the sweetness. The close is warm, fruit over soft oak. This is Raasay's fresh, fruit driven island style.