Great news - it’s nearly time for the next release of single malt whisky from the Isle of Raasay distillery: Isle of Raasay R-02!
The tiny Hebridean island of Raasay (with a population of just 161 hardy souls) is home to an even tinier, eponymous distillery that began production in September 2017 and released its first ever single malt - Isle of Raasay Inaugural - at the end of last year.
Isle of Raasay’s first widely-available single malt whisky for the general public - the snappily-titled Isle of Raasay R-01 - was only released a few months ago and despite being a relatively large batch it sold out in a trice, so we’re delighted that the second general release Raasay single malt whisky - Isle of Raasay R-02 - has arrived so quickly, as we know a lot of you missed out first time around.
Isle of Raasay R-02 has stuck to the same formula that made the first release such a success. As a reminder, the distillery makes both peated and unpeated spirit, and ages both kinds separately in three different types of casks: fresh Chinkapin oak, first fill American Rye whiskey and first fill Bordeaux red wine casks. After maturation, selected casks from all six combinations are blended together and bottled at 46.4% without colouring or chill filtration to create the final Isle of Raasay single malt whisky.
Isle of Raasay’s distillery’s output is very limited, with a production capacity of just 200,000 litres per year, so mature stock has to be very carefully managed. Apart from a few single casks and special editions for individual markets, there’s not going to be much about, so these general release batches are your best chance to taste what’s going on at Raasay distillery.
Isle of Raasay R-02 will be arriving on our virtual shelves in the near future, so if you’re keen to get your hands on a bottle, make sure to keep an eye on our New Arrivals page - and if you haven’t done so already, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook!