The releases from the Isle of Raasay Distillery offers a fresh taste of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides in a style that throws back to the Hebridean whisky of old.
Here’s one distillery chances are even some of the most dedicated Scotch whisky lovers have not have heard of: Isle of Raasay. Founded in 2014 on the remote but stunningly beautiful Isle of Raasay – part of the Inner Hebrides region on the western coast of Scotland just off the Isle of Skye – this relatively new distillery doesn’t quite drip with history and tradition like many of its other well-known, long-established contemporaries.
But big dreams are what whisky is made of, and so it was for founders Alasdair Day (pictured below) and Bill Dobbie. You may know them as the folks behind the Tweedale range of blended whiskies. But what they really wanted to create a whisky that harkens back to older smokier styles of Hebridean single malts, one rooted in tradition and terroir but also with a more contemporary approach. They settled on the Isle of Raasay, transforming a charming old Victorian villa into a state-of-the-art production facility – the isle’s first legal distillery – that started churning out spirit in 2017.
Which is probably why you’re unlikely to have spotted its bottles in the wild especially in our part of the world.
Although formally belonging to the Highlands whisky making region – more contemporary maps consider it an Islands whisky – Raasay makes mostly lightly peated whisky like the Hebridean malts of old. The use of grassy Highland peat, along with a longer fermentation period of up to five days – compared to the usual two – to enable ambient yeast to develop fruitier, more complex flavours, determines its house style.
What makes Raasay – the distillery – stand out among its peers is its strong sense of place. Their peat is local. And unlike most other distilleries, it uses 100% Scottish barley. The distillery has even started working with local farmers to grow Raasay barley for future releases.
Then there’s its edgy wood management policy. Its first official release, the non-age statement flagship Isle of Raasay Signature Single Malt, employs six different cask profiles by maturing peated and unpeated Isle of Raasay spirit separately in ex-rye whiskey, virgin Chinkapin oak and Bordeaux red wine casks.
The use of the less common Chinkapin (chinquapin) oak – another species of American white oak – in whisky maturation is still relatively new, so it’s unclear what kind of influence it has on spirit. But for Raasay to try speaks of the distillery’s more iconoclast side.
For obvious reasons there isn’t any Raasay vintage expressions; we’ll have to wait a few more years for those. But another currently available Raasay product is the Dùn Cana – Sherry Quarter Cask Release, an annual limited edition series first matured in American rye casks and then cask finished in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry quarter casks. Also available are a number of five-year old single cask releases – the Raasay Na Sia Single Cask Series – and a range exploring different oak species, all of which are experimental in nature.
Despite being a young distillery, awards have already begun to flow in. Raasay was recently named ‘Distillery of the Year’ at the Scottish Whisky Awards in 2022. More recently, its signature single malt garnered three stars at the SoCraft Awards held in Singapore, only one of two spirits to do so. Their combination of innovative whisky-making techniques, its deep connections to the isle, and the dedication of its founders has quickly made the Isle of Raasay Distillery a respected name in the world of Scottish whisky.
The good news is, some of their whiskies are now available in Singapore. If you’re looking for a Scotch single malt whisky of a different stripe – particularly if you’d enjoy that combines the rich full flavours of a Speyside with a touch of smoky peat that’s perfect with a good cigar – give Raasay whisky a try.
The Isle of Raasay Signature Single Malt, Isle of Raasay Dùn Cana – Sherry Quarter Cask Release, and a limited-edition unpeated Isle of Raasay Na Sia Single Cask Series is now available from TSA Wines at a recommended retail price of S$131, S$155, and S$157 respectively. They are also available by the dram or bottle at good bars and restaurants such as Merry Go Round, Bar Bon Funk, Telegraph, Tippling Club, and Yardbird.
Follow us on Telegram to get updated on events and other spirited announcements!
