Isle of Raasay R-02
Official Bottling | 46.4% ABV
Dougie made me buy it
Just like the Spey Tenne, the fanciful words and reviews of another influenced my purchasing decisions. In this case, the one and only Dougie Crystal.
Now to set part of the stage for my perspectives on this Isle of Raasay release. My wife and I recently swapped places with some good friends, ensuring there were some adults in each house to watch both of our baby monitors. So when a decade-long friend from our time as roomies in university came over, the whisky shelves (and boxes stashed away in secret hiding places) were opened and we feasted. When my wife came home, we had 15 bottles sitting open on the table, and this Raasay was sitting among them.
We weren’t sorry about our transgressions given we hadn’t had a chance to connect one-on-one for a long time. We had freshly cracked this whisky that evening, revelling in the tactile feedback from the unique bottle design. I had some moderately high hopes heading into this whisky given the words of Dougie on the R-01.1 release. As I’ve written before, this does form some sort of inherent bias towards the whisky, influencing your initial expectations at least.
On that night, with a table full of NAS to 21 year old whisky, both of us, independent from each other, had a similar experience of disappointment. What was the winner of the evening you might ask? Well, surprise, surprise - we both had different picks of our favourite, and you will have to stay tuned for a forthcoming Dramface review of my friend’s favourite on the evening after he exclaimed loudly “holy sh*t, that’s the best single malt I’ve ever had”. Suffice to say, as alluded by the score at the foot of this review, this Raasay didn’t fare too well that evening.
So in the spirit of transparency and bias reduction, I’ve sampled this whisky for several more weeks across several evenings, all with different meals and some with different whiskies on the side, trying to uncover the hidden secrets this R-02 might be hiding. According to some information I’ve found, the R-02 release has a higher peat content than the R-01 series.
Review
Isle of Raasay R-02, Official Release, 46.4% ABV
£55 (Paid CAD$100 - £60)
Nose
Red berries, similar to a 75% strawberry and 25% sour raspberry mix. An astringency that I equate to a mix of silicone sealant, ABS piping cement, and drywall compound. A damp mainland Scotland peat cannot be missed anywhere in the nose. Tinder dry spruce needles.
Palate
A peppery bite attacks the sides of your tongue. The damp peat now dominates the now generic red berry notes. There is a spiciness that I sometimes associate with rye whisky. Touch of damp cedar and vanilla. The finish is short and generic.
The Dregs
This is an interesting one to dissect. When I taste this one on its own, it fares much better. But when I taste this one alongside a different whisky, whether its peated or unpeated, boubon/sherry/red wine matured, some holes appear in the beautifully faceted bottle. When tasted alone, my mind thinks this could be similar to a young Ledaig (minus the rubbery notes) in the way that it fills your mouth and provides a robust experience. The nose is average, however where it falls apart for me is the palate. It seems disjointed, uncompromising, and unyielding. It’s distinctly itself and is unapologetic about the flag it flies. I’m just not seeming to connect with it no matter what I do.
I’m not dismissing Raasay here either. I think an 8 or 10 year old Raasay could be a unique and wonderful thing. It’s obvious they put some effort into the distillate and are clearly filling casks that do provide some impact, however I think some of my complaints about this whisky are due to age. This whisky needs some sharp edges rounded off, some time to educate itself on balance, and a few grey hairs of wisdom to integrate itself. It’s almost like a young child - all energy and potential but limited in coordination, resulting in an in-cohesive and sporadic product. Those factors, given some time, should provide some unique and very good whisky once time has worked its magic.
Along the same train of thought, I should commend Raasay in picking a strong direction with their whisky rather than going for the now ubiquitous ex-Jim Swan uber-fruity unpeated whiskies filled into active sherry or STR casks. No disrespect intended to the late Jim Swan at all, but the vast majority of new whisky distillers around the globe owe their provenance to Dr. Swan rather than their own local ingredients or heritage and should be considering taking a slight detour in their production to differentiate themselves from other Swan-influenced new kids on the block.
There are a few other new distilleries that are forging their own path. Adelphi employed Dr. Swan as a consultant for their Ardnamurchan project. He assisted in their set-up and design with Forsyth’s with the Adelphi team tweaking things to bring more weight to their eventual spirit. While Dougie has professed his adoration for Ardnamurchan on his grandiose Ardnageddon piece, I’ve yet to try only a fraction of their juice. That being said, and of relevance to this Raasay, I have a 3 year old Ardnamurchan single cask (AD/07:15 CK.358) that presents more cohesive and enjoyable even at a 59.3% ABV, so hopefully time will be kind to Raasay and their robust spirit will evolve into something wonderful. I’ve got a handful of 3-5ish yo NAS single malts coming up shortly for review on Dramface and they present far more cohesive and enjoyable than this Raasay, and all of them for a fraction of the price.
It’s a 5/10 whisky but given the price, it slips a notch to 4/10. There’s just too many whiskies in this price range that would trounce this one.
Seeing as I didn’t quite connect with this Raasay, I thought another opinion would be welcomed…
Score: 4/10 BB
Drummond’s Review
Isle of Raasay R-02, Official Release, 46.4% ABV
£55 (£35 paid at auction)
Like Broddy, I also read Dougie’s R01.01 Raasay release with a lot of interest. I’d been reading the frequent stories about the Isle of Raasay distillery since the early days of their production: the location of the distillery and how it’s helping to revive the island’s economy, the flavour niche they were/are aiming at, and the unique combination of cask types that go into their blending process, among other aspects.
I avoided the scrum around the £90 inaugural release and waited for things to calm down before trying it. I was lucky enough to find one of the distillery’s special releases in a local pub recently – the cask rye and sherry cask double cask – which I found to be delicious. It was that dram that pushed me over the hump to find a bottle of the core release to learn more about the house style that the distillery is aiming for. I’ve since picked up a bottle of the rye and sherry release, which I hope to write a future review about soon. But for now, on to the core R-02 bottling.
Nose
Barley and malty notes, subtle matchstick/flinty peat, with the matchstick made from green wood. A bit spirity, but not in an off-putting way. Lightly mineralic, and slightly yeasty/bready. More savoury than sweet, but with sweetness clearly present in the background.
Palate
A mix of vegetal and matchstick peat, and oak-flavoured ginger. The wine notes come through more clearly on the palate, as does the influence of the ex-rye casks. Gentle oak and savoury spices alongside red fruits. Light rye bread. Malty grain notes. Slight saltiness. Vanilla creaminess in the distance.
The Dregs
I snagged this for £35 at auction – well below the £55 RRP. I realise that’s not an option for everyone, but for that price, I’m very happy to have this in my collection and to enjoy it without much guilt. And enjoying it I am.
It’s not what I was expecting, I’ll admit. Based on reading about the intended flavour profile and interviews with distillery staff, I suppose I was expecting a bit more of the red fruit characteristics coming through. They’re still there, but seem to take somewhat of a backseat.
Yes, it’s young, but the flavour combination is interesting, and my bottle is clearly opening up in even more compelling ways as it goes down. I will say that this feels like it’s fairly cask-driven at this point. The oak, rye, and wine notes come through prominently, and while the peat clearly does as well, I feel like I’m somewhat left wanting to know more about the distillate itself. To be sure, I’m getting some good indications (malty/yeasy/bready, salty, savoury) but – as with all of the new distilleries I’ve tried recently – this will of course develop and integrate over time.
Yet, the longer I sit with this, the more interesting it becomes, and the more features of the unique distillate I think I can discern. Along with a clear commitment to integrity presentations and an admirable level of transparency on their website about peat levels, barley varieties, fermentation times, spirit cut points and other technical nuggets, Raasay is now firmly on my personal whisky radar, and I’ll be on the lookout for more soon.
Score: 6/10 DD
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