Isle of Raasay: characterful whisky from the isles

It would be far fetched to state that every self-respecting Scottish island has a distillery or two these days. In any case did the Isle of Raasay join the ranks of Islay, Mull and Arran when the distillery of the same name started distilling in 2017. As we can read here, Isle of Raasay is aiming for an older style of Hebridean single malt whisky. In their definition, this means “a lightly peated whisky, balanced with rich dark fruit flavours”. We found one of the earlier releases of the newcomer, and will taste that one for you today.

Isle of Raasay, batch R-01, bottled at 46,4 % abv
Makeup: One of the very first batches ever released as Hebridean single malt, with 26.000 bottles. The whisky matured in a selection of casks: Rye Whiskey, Chinkapin oak, Bordeaux red wine.
General impressions: The nose opens with fruity smells intertwined with a light smoky signature. There is this sour note that I attribute to the red wine cask used in the mix. There are also some nice red fruit notes, forest fruit, purple berries, and in the end some cooled down Earl Grey tea. On the tongue, the red wine cask is not that noticeable, which seems just right to me. The smoke makes a return here too, but it plays nicely with the malty character of the Isle of Raasay. Yeah, I think that is a good description, this is characterful whisky. Water brings out a lot of sweet notes on the palate, but a unwelcome floral note makes an appearance on the finish. Undiluted, you get more peaty flavours on the finish.

Conclusion: Smooth and tasty, a very classy blend. Excellent effort, despite the somewhat one-dimensional character of it. But certainly, this Dewar’s is not boring for a single malt drinker.

Score: 84 points

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