Torabhaig The Legacy Series – The Inaugural Release 3 Years Old 2017

When Torabhaig opened in 2017 it became only the second distillery on the Isle of Skye, joining Talisker after a gap of nearly two centuries. This is its very first single malt, released in 2021 as the opening chapter of the Legacy Series, a planned run of releases charting the distillery's journey towards a ten year old. It was distilled in 2017, the distillery's first year, from heavily peated barley.

Built by Mossburn Distillers in a restored 1820s farmstead at Teangue on Sleat, Torabhaig draws water from the Allt Breacach and Allt Gleann burns and distils in copper pot stills. This first release was matured in first fill and refill Bourbon casks and bottled at 46 percent, without chill filtration or colouring, a young whisky already showing the house character.

On the palate a maritime peat smoke meets lemon, vanilla and a struck flint minerality, fresh and coastal, the smoke balanced rather than fierce. A historic dram, the first whisky made on Skye's second distillery in living memory, and the start of the Torabhaig story. For collectors and for drinkers, it is a chance to taste a distillery at its very beginning. Even young, the spirit shows the poise that has made Torabhaig a name to watch among the island distilleries.