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Murray's Notes
In 2017, on a Hebridean island with a population of roughly 160, a distillery opened with the stated intention of making whisky that tastes like where it's made. The Isle of Raasay — a sliver of rock between Skye and the mainland — had never had a legal distillery. The island had a history of illicit distilling, as most of the Highlands did, but nothing on the books. R&B Distillers changed that.
The distillery buildings are converted Victorian villas on the shore, with views across the Inner Sound to the Cuillin mountains of Skye. This is not incidental. The architecture, the setting, and the climate all matter to the whisky. Raasay's maritime location means salt air, constant humidity, and temperature stability — conditions that accelerate and regulate maturation.
The first single malt was released in 2021. It is lightly peated, with a Highland character — heather, citrus, black pepper — rather than the heavy smoke of Islay. The distillery also experiments with different peating levels and cask types, releasing single cask editions alongside the core range.
Raasay is small. The island is small. The distillery is small. The output is around 200,000 litres per year. But size is not the measure. The measure is whether the whisky is worth drinking. The early releases suggest it is.
Raasay operates two copper pot stills, designed with wide ball shapes to produce a rich, fruity spirit. Water comes from the Celtic Spring, a well on the island. The distillery uses a mix of peated and unpeated barley — the core Raasay single malt uses lightly peated malt at around 6-8 ppm, while single cask releases explore higher peating levels. Fermentation is in wooden washbacks, which contribute to the spirit's fruity, estery character. Maturation takes place in a combination of ex-rye, ex-bourbon, and ex-sherry casks, stored in the distillery's shore-side warehouses where the maritime climate influences the rate and character of maturation. Annual production is approximately 200,000 litres of alcohol.
Murray's Pick
Price guide: ~50-60
Heather, citrus zest, black pepper, light smoke, briny coastal finish
Drink it neat. The peat and pepper open up after a few minutes in the glass.
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The distillery offers tours (£15 for the core experience, £35 for the premium tasting tour) and has a boutique hotel on site — the Raasay Distillery Hotel — with views across the Sound of Raasay to the Cuillin mountains. The island is reached by a 15-minute ferry from Sconser on Skye. Booking for both tours and accommodation is recommended.