Isle of Raasay Single Malt Batch R-01

Peat, fruity

I first tried this back in October last year, it was not a good experience. Tried in a liquor store from their tasting table I have been left wondering if the bottle was a bit suspect because I keep hearing good things about this liquid. I very much wanted to love this whisky, the bottle is steeped in geology with a cross section of the islands geology on the label depicting the Jurassic sandstones through which their water flows, and an ammonite formed into the bottle itself. This feels like a whisky marketed directly to me. My disappointment at a bad experience was profound. I am grateful to the Wise One @cascode for sending me this dram and another chance to find something special. Going to preface this by saying that I’ve left my original notes below for transparency, but this isn’t the same whisky from just pouring this I am convinced that bottle had been left open or in the sun, or something. PSA: Look after your bottles people. N: Beautifully cool smoke brings a delicate balance of phenols, florals and hearty smoke. This is a bonfire in a flower meadow at sunset. There is vanilla, and honey, and fresh white bread. There are the vaguest touches of brine and heather. It’s not particularly deep or complex but it is soft, cooling, and delightfully delicate to the point that I think a whisper would throw off the balance. P: A slightly muddled and grainy texture to the entry that gives off quite a heavy salt and vegetal peat. Successive sips soften things out and there is a medium body with a little earthiness. The salt remains and the vegetal notes subside a little. Smoke is warm and slightly like a smoky campfire bread with dark honey, that is I suspect the underlying malt speaking. This feels a little dark with some raw sugar cane sweetness and a good heft of pepper and dry tannins. F: Medium-short. Malt forward with sustained but not overpowering pepper and a sharply drying tannin-smoke medley. Thank you @cascode, I am very glad to have now tried this as it was meant to be experienced. This is a fantastic new entry from a young distillery. The nose is the star of the show for me with the palate being a fairly fun of the mill smoky malt. There is nothing inherently wrong here at all, it is a carefully crafted liquid, peated and unseated malt matured each in the same three barrel types, in years to come I think this will really start to shine with more depth and subtlety in the palate and temperance in the finish that will compliment the beautiful nose. If a bottle ended up on my shelf I would not mind at all. Distiller whisky taste #84 [Pictured here with an Asteroceras ammonite from Dorset, UK. This 190 million year old fossil from the Jurassic is a nod to Rassay’s ammonite embossedbottle and the Jurassic aquifers that their source waters flow through.] *** Original review: October 7th 2022, 1.75/5 N: raw peat, powerful smoke punches into the nose, but there is feinty and acrid undertone that is seriously off putting. Maybe theres some cereal and vanilla and tannins but mostly its smoke and evernote and then, smacked with something that pulls me away to refresh. P: Raw, mulchy vegetal peat. if you’ve ever eaten a mouthful of peat or mud falling face first into a scottish hillside, you’ll get this. The smoke is fresh and unrefined and way to overpowering. There are some apple and caramel notes but they are weakly apparent at best. Maybe a hint of spice? Everything is too young, unrefined and unmarried. F: Short, earthy peat smack. Maybe some salty tannins.

Nose: Gentle, soft smoke that is half-way between peat-reek and a bonfire of burning leaves, grass clippings and heather from a flower garden. It has notes of vanilla, honey, steamed asparagus and demure citrus fruit and there is a touch of maritime brine to the nose as well. Overall it is reminiscent of Highland Park crossed with Old Pulteney and it’s fresh, light and very agreeable. Palate: Maritime salt up front with vegetal and herbal flavours supported by light smoke. As it develops some sweetness emerges but it’s not sugary, instead it has the sweet/sour taste of baked cereals (rye bread? pumpernickel?) with a touch of molasses balanced by artichoke brine and black pepper. It’s earthy in character but there is also an intriguing tannic red wine note – just a hint – drifting about. The texture is pleasant but not particularly creamy or full. Finish: Medium. Malt, cereal, cracked black pepper and barley sugar with a zephyr of peat smoke in the aftertaste along with some brisk, drying tannins. A very pleasant and well-balanced malt whisky. It is youthful but in no way faulty or inferior because of that. It reminds me of many other maritime, mildly smoky young whiskies. This release was a blend of peated and unpeated malts from Raasay, each of which was matured in a combination of three casks. The wood selection was excellently chosen and has produced a young whisky that has a coquettish flair and just enough cask influence. You certainly could not say this is cask dominated or even cask driven, as the distillate character shines through clearly. It also develops in the glass, starting out very crisp but developing depth and complexity as it rests. It’s delightful neat but in the interests of science I added a dash of water to the dram. This flattened the nose quite a bit (which is not unusual for a young peated whisky) and brought out more sweetness while rounding off the peppery spices. It was interesting to try it that way, and arguably it makes the whisky easier to enjoy, but I thought it lost something in the process. I’m mentally adding Isle of Raasay to my growing list of new Scottish distilleries to follow and sample regularly in future. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)