Raasay Unpeated Chinquapin Oak Cask 2019

This official Isle of Raasay single malt, a Unpeated Chinquapin Oak Cask bottling distilled in 2019, from cask 19/579 and bottled at 61.1%. Raasay is the first legal distillery on the Isle of Raasay, a small island in the Inner Hebrides off Skye. Raasay released its first single malt in 2020, three years after the first spirit ran.

The spirit was run through the distillery's Italian built pot stills on mineral rich island water, after slow fermentation with a two stage distillers and Champagne yeast. An ex-Bourbon cask held it, soft oak giving vanilla and honey. No age is given, but the lively fruit marks it as a young Raasay. The spirit is bottled at natural colour and without chill filtration, true to the house. A population of around 160 makes Raasay one of Scotland's smallest distilling islands. First fill and virgin casks let this young spirit gain depth quickly.

At 61.1%, undiluted, it is rich and vivid. The cask lends vanilla, baking spice and a honeyed sweetness with a clean coastal lift behind. It is fresh and vivid, the young spirit shining through. Berry fruit and vanilla draw out the close. This is a modern Hebridean single malt.