Isle of Raasay

The Isle of Raasay is one of newest single malt and gin distilleries in Scotland and is located on the remote Hebridean island of Raasay. It is the first ever legal distillery on the island and follows in the footsteps of many illicit farmyard distillers there. The aim is to combine traditional and innovative modern thinking with an ethos to bring jobs and good whisky to Raasay. They produce, mature, bottle and market every single drop of whisky on the island.

The Isle of Raasay distils both non-peated and peated Scotch at their distillery. The peated spirit uses Highland peat, which gives a soft and gentle style of smoke, and is peated to a level of 45ppm. They use a diverse set of cask types for maturation to take the whisky in different directions. The 'house style' has sweet notes of bramble and dark fruit with robust cereals. The aim is to emulate an old Hebridean style of single malt that has been lost to modern whisky making.

The distillery has a small output of around 200,000 litres per year. Water is taken from the Tobar na Ba Bàine well (which translates as 'well of the pale cow' from Gaelic). Only 100% Scottish barley is used. There is a one tonne mash tun, which feeds six stainless steel washbacks. The distillery operates a two fermentation time strategy - for every ten batches, four are run at 67 hours with six at 118 hours. There are one pair of copper pot stills (one 5,000 litre wash still and one 3,600 litre spirit still). Unusually the spirit still has a column still attached, which is used for special distillations. Spirit is filled to cask at 63.5% ABV. There are three warehouses on site - one is used for cask filling and bottling, plus one traditional dunnage and one palletised warehouse for maturation.

The Isle of Raasay distillery was founded in 2017 by R & B Distillers. The co-founders Alaistair Day and Bill Dobie purchased Borodale House on the small island located next to Skye. The house was converted into a hotel to offer accommodation for visitors. The island has a history of illegal distillation. The remote location made it difficult for authorities to reach. Production began in September 2017 with the first single malt release following in November 2020. They are also experimenting with growing their own barley on the island.

That first bottling was lightly peated and matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, before a finishing period in ex-red wine casks sourced from Bordeaux. It sold out instantly. The core product - Isle of Raasay Single Malt - was released in Spring 2021. It features a marriage of both unpeated and peated whisky. Both styles have been matured in heavily charred American oak first-fill ex-red wine, ex-rye whiskey or virgin oak barrels. The six barrel types are then blended together to create the final whisky. The bottle and packaging are designed to show the rugged landscape of Raasay and its ancient rock structures and fossils.

They also offer the option to purchase your own cask of new make spirit and let it mature. Options include 30 litres to fully sized casks, different wood types and the choice of peated or unpeated spirit. Tours are available at the award-winning visitor centre.