Isle of Raasay Single Malt Whisky - with 2 Glencairn glasses

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 46.4% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

This lightly peated single malt brings together six cask components. Peated and unpeated spirits mature separately in first-fill casks that previously held American Rye Whiskey, new Chinkapin oak casks and first-fill Bordeaux red wine casks. Only then does the distillery marry the selected whiskies, combining two spirit styles with the influence of three cask types.

The set contains a 0.7-litre bottle of whisky at 46.4% ABV, two Glencairn glasses bearing the distillery logo and a gift box. The whisky has natural colour and is not chill-filtered.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, gentle smoke, dry grass, fern and a touch of minerality accompany sweet, fleshy fruit. A hint of damp linen lies in the background. Given time, plum, raspberry and peppery spice emerge. With a little water, banana peel and black cherry join them. The aroma becomes more open and deeper, the herbal notes become more pronounced, and the smoke takes on a slightly charred note.
• Palate: The whisky opens softly and sweetly on the palate, with green apple and sweets. Red and dark fruits, especially cherry, mingle with sweet spice, while the smoke is a distant reminder of a campfire. The mid-palate is juicy, with the cherry-led fruit and sweet spices in balance. With water, the whisky becomes even softer and lingers longer; its layers of flavour become more distinct.
• Finish: Pepper, mineral salts, fruit peel and light smoke linger on the finish.

Distillery/Bottler:

Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day founded R&B Distillers and developed a distillery on Raasay in the converted Borodale House. The Isle of Raasay Distillery began operating in 2017 as the island’s first legal distillery. It distils the whisky on Raasay, where the whisky also matures and is bottled.

Two separately produced spirits and deliberate cask selection shape the distillery’s style. Long fermentations of three to five days and the island’s mineral-rich water help develop fruity notes in the spirit before cask maturation. In choosing Chinkapin oak, the distillery tested different levels of toasting and charring before selecting heavily toasted and heavily charred casks.

Facts: