Isle of Raasay Single Malt Batch R-01

Really enjoyed this at Magnum in Edinburgh. Very classy dram, just the right amount of peat for me. Bought a bottle of batch 2 as soon as it was available

Lots of character. I can only imagine how it will be when it has longer time to mature. Very good complexity for such a young dram. Nice!

Reminds me of a Highland Park but rougher on the tounge. Gives way to a pleasant aftertaste that lingers and reminds me of the Scottish weather.

The bottle is unique and beautiful. On the nose, smoke first, sweet and salt then vanilla and some fruits Palate is strong, with smoke and spices, a lil rye taste and a sweet and smoky finish. 20min after I still have that taste so, long finish.

perfect balance between smoke and sweetness.

Well... this was dissapointing. Raasay is one of the Hebidrean Islands new distilleries (the other one is Torabhaig), and i saw this bottle in auctions since the very first day it was released. The incredible good looking bottle has been made to resemble the rugged terroir of Raasay Isle, which in part is responsible for this single malt flavor (allegedly). This whisky has been matured using a mixture of 6 barrels, divided in two categories: peated and unpeated. The three unpeated whiskies are matured in the same type of casks of the peated whiskies: ********* oak (a type of american white oak), Bordeaux Casks, and Rye barrels. Everything here promises a nice complexity, including the 46.4%abv of the final product. Well, lets see how it went: On the nose, a little winey and peated, nice mixture but not overly appealing. Starts with what you could define as a Blackberry peat. Winey, raw meat; a little stinky. A lot of Rye and cereal aromas. Wet trees and tylenol pills. After a first sip it gave me grapes and gooseberries. On the palate, it is your classical rye whisky. Super ricey, raw rice. It tastes exactly as the rice you have just put into the rice electric pot with water. Feels organic, with a nice rye spiciness. A second sip tasted exactly as sugar corn flakes with milk. Aftertaste was simple, and dull. Dry , rye, rice and sugar syrup. Overall, this young malt has a long way to go. It felt very raw for some moments, which is not something that i necessarily dislike, since i like strong, "punch in the face" drams; but in this case what felt most strange, was the excesive rye profile, making it feel like an american whiskey. It wasn't really maritime, nor it felt like something that came from 6 casks or a rugged island. I believe that it is not a bad dram, and maybe in ten more years they will have something really surprising, but right now this whisky needs less cask experiments and more maturation. My score for it is 77 over 100.