Isle of Raasay Unpeated Heritage Oak Single Cask

The Isle of Raasay Distillery is located on a small Hebridean island between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland, an area with a long history of illicit whisky-making. In 2014, entrepreneurs Alasdair Day and Bill Dobbie established R&B Distillers, initially with the ambition of sourcing whisky for their Tweeddale blended Scotch. Day had originally considered establishing a distillery in the Scottish Borders, nearby the grocer for which his great-grandfather once blended whiskies, but a recommendation led the pair to Raasay. They acquired the vacant nineteenth-century Borodale House in 2015 and secured planning permission to transform it into a state-of-the-art distillery, visitor centre, and luxury accommodation.

The distillery opened on 14 September 2017, becoming the island’s first legal distillery. Its first test distillations took place that month, with the first casks filled in October. While the whisky matured, R&B Distillers introduced Raasay While We Wait, a lightly peated single malt intended to offer a preview of the style they hoped to produce on the island. The distillery’s own single malt was released in 2020, establishing a signature profile of gentle peat smoke balanced by rich dark-fruit flavours.

Designed to produce both peated and unpeated spirit, the distillery allows the whiskymakers to develop a distinctive balance of gentle smoke, fruit and spice. Extended fermentation encourages the development of fruity flavours, while careful distillation helps create a spirit suited to the distillery’s maturation programme. Along side a range of limited release casks, the bulk of the two styles are matured separately in three types of cask: American rye whiskey, fresh Chinkapin oak and Bordeaux red wine. This combination produces six distinct whisky components, which can be brought together to create the distillery’s characteristic flavour profile.

Raasay’s natural environment is central to its identity. Water is drawn from Tobar Na Ba Bàine, meaning the Well of the Pale Cow, and the island’s varied geology provides an important connection between the landscape and the whisky. The distillery also produces Isle of Raasay Gin, inspired by the island’s natural character.

The Isle of Raasay Distillery’s development also reflects a commitment to the long-term future of the island. With a population of around 160 people, Raasay benefits from the employment and tourism opportunities created by the business, employing more than 25 people on the island with an average age of around 30 years old. The restoration of Borodale House has given a historic building a new purpose. Production, maturation and bottling on the island reinforce the distillery’s connection to its surroundings, ensuring that Raasay is more than simply the location of the whisky’s production. Instead, its landscape, history and community remain central to the identity of the spirit.