Isle Of Raasay 2019-2023 - Distillery Exclusive - First Release

Isle of Raasay is an independent distillery on the eponymous Inner Hebridean island between Scotland and Skye. The distillery was founded in 2014 by R&B Distillers, owned by Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day, the latter of whom was already involved in the whisky industry via his Tweeddale blended whisky. Isle of Raasay commenced production in 2017 and released its first single malt whisky towards the end of 2020.

Isle of Raasay is a small distillery with a production capacity of just over 200,000 litres per annum. Raasay has one pair of stills and makes both peated and unpeated spirit, with the former generally peated to around 50ppm. Most of the distillery’s releases are a mix of both types of spirit and so far are predominantly aged in a combination of rye whiskey, red wine and virgin Chinkapin oak casks.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.