About this SPIRIT
Isle of Raasay Distillery
The Isle of Raasay Distillery is located on the eponymous island in the Inner Hebrides – a rugged, desolate terrain that has historically been home to illicit distilling. It was established in 2014 by Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day.
Since then, the team have been passionate about crafting artisanal whiskies in the style of a true Hebridean single malt. They have sought to capture flavours that were once commonplace in whiskies:
“When people talk about fruit in whisky, they tend to talk about apples, bananas, pears – those sorts of flavours,” explains Alasdair Day. “But if you go back to the 1970s and ’80s, there was a real blackcurrant character that has almost disappeared and is not that common anymore in whisky. We wanted blackcurrant and those kind of dark fruit flavours, in a lightly peated style.”
We’re looking forward to seeing what this small distillery achieves over the coming years.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
With the distinction of being the first legal spirit ever produced on the Isle of Raasay, this classic dry gin cannot but evoke an image of illicit island distilling from years gone by. The eponymous distillery was founded in 2014 by Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day, and this, their inaugural release, really typifies the island’s character. It’s infused with locally foraged juniper and blended with water sourced from the distillery’s well.
The spirit is presented in a bottle moulded on a selection of particularly beautiful, locally discovered fossils — encapsulating in form as in taste the island’s unique geology. The aroma is bright and brimming with juniper and citrus, whilst the palate mellows towards notes of orange, liquorice, and hints of pepper.
This is best paired with a classic tonic, orange peel, and memories that will stay with you long after the bottle is finished.
Iain Glover, Spirits Specialist, Berry Bros. & Rudd (November 2023)
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