Raasay Isle of Raasay Single Malt

72 / 100 Schmackofatz

Really exciting upon first opening of this bottle, but unfortunately it has not aged well over the last several months, and has become less expressive with time. Nevertheless, a wonderful early offering from a distillery with much wind at its sails, and the heavy weight of expectation. I cannot wait to see how things develop.

Crimson fruits, on red berries, smoked blueberries. Then iodine, but light. Fairly fine smoke. Oily peat. Indian spices. Candied ginger. In the mouth, it's light, but quite sweet, sea salt, diluted lemon, grapefruit fillet. It's quite rocky, on gypsum, pearly with foam. The tide is there, kelp, salt, with fairly light sand. A sunny day in winter. The sea air, slate, quartz. Long and stringy finish, fresh and cottony. Lychee juice. Dry earth and chestnuts. It's very good, in my opinion, and you don't feel the youth of the juice at all, it's crazy the progress we've made in making whisky. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2021/09/isle-of-raasay-r-02-3-yo.html

In the glass an Isle of Raasay lightly peated with 46.4% alcohol content. The whisky comes with no age information, but is uncolored and not cold-filtered. This is batch 2. In terms of color, we are in the range of yellow gold with central windows; the still young whisky slowly flows down the glass walls and the anticipation increases. For me a very successful whisky from a still young distillery. I can recommend the gentle use of water because there is so much to discover. Great malt!

For its age, probably the best whisky I’ve ever tasted. The blackberry and cherry notes really shine through the mild peat and the wine cask perfectly works with the spirit. I cannot believe this is only four years old, it’s so well balanced between cask influence and distillery character. If I was being really picky the Virgin oak has added a bit too much of a dry oak element to the finish but it’s just a little out of synch with the rest, nothing major to complain about

A very young but interesting whisky. With 12ppm, it should sound slightly peated, but in the nose it seems to sound much more smokey. Otherwise, it is a very pleasant, sweet smoke that is quite complex for its age. In addition to smoke, the taste includes malt, lemon peel, vanilla, white pepper, ginger and dark chocolate. A very strong resemblance to the young Caol ila

Quite saucy, hints of salt, yuzu, and soy sauce. Oaky finish and medium harshness.

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Fairly aggressive and experimental barrel use. This leads to a very nice and tasty whisky, I love it. It is spicy (vanilla, cocoa, cinnamon), fruity (mandarin), mineral and has a thick mouthfeel. Only in the non-existent aftertaste does it lose a lot of points from me. A distillery with potential, that's for sure! Although I'm not sure how much I tasted the distillery now, or the casks used.

nose: smoky, fresh fermented fruits, varnish, citrus, fresh cut grass palate: light, vanilla, pastry, cured/salty, very light peat, liquorice finish: quite long marked by peat and sweet/salty

A flavoursome malt however youngness shows. Sweet honey, almonds, creamy vanilla, spicy and grain savoury. A young distillery edition, one I will be looking out for.,

Thanks to karloff for this sample. I quite liked the inaugural release, and this is no disappointment either.

definitely worth the money

Despite its few years of aging, it seems to me to be a well-balanced single malt, floral, fruity, oily and peaty.

Such a dirty, cheeky, young smoke. Sweet, sugary. Slightly bitter, peppery. A bit of young malt tail. It's good, but it's still a year away.

Not a bad dram, but slightly underwhelming.

The young Malt can't quite hide his youth, even if every effort has been made. Charged with many aromas, strong peat smoke ("lightly peated???"), sweet/vinous fruit notes, herbs and spices. Interesting, but not always harmonious.

Very well balanced with subtle smoke, super nice one.

Clearly smoky on the nose with a beautifully smoldering campfire, with maritime hints of seaweed and sandy beach, plus a red wine muff and very subtle red mold cheese impressions (not disturbing) slightly cheesy and farm-like (much less than with Springbank), there are also notes of grain: Kornspitz, Wholemeal biscuits, bread crust and on the fruity side you'll find oranges and lemons. The whisky is slightly watery in the mouth, but the aromas of the nose are also very well reflected in the taste. In the finish then lemon, seaweed, sandy beach, red wine muff and pleasant oak spice. The finish is short to medium long. For a three-year-old whisky, I think it's really well done and the price is really okay for less than 50€. Anyway, I'll keep an eye on Rasaay.

Bonfire in a forest clearing, dried leaves, pepper, marinated olives, wet rope, orchard fruits, sea salt, herbs, earth, tobacco, old books, vanilla, ginger, lemon, cured meat, pine nuts, sweet berries. Complex, engaging, delicious.

[02 and 02.1 were tasted together] After tasting the 02, the 02.1 was a smoke bomb, but after leaving it a day, the 02.1 had a lot more to say for itself. I think I prefer the more lightly peated 02 because of the balanced chocolate and chili tail, but I’ve been backwards and forwards over which is best a number of times, as I found the much more prominent peat smoke in the other one really nicely integrated and well, yummy. I got more mint, maple and fennel in the first sample and more of the wine and leather with the second, even though there’s more from the rye cask in the 02 and more from the wine cask in the 02.01 which is very counterintuitive. I also got an intense hit of licorice root in the palate and tail of the newer version on my first taste, but after that it sank right into the background and I could only mildy detect it on subsequent sips. I do love that Raasay provides so much information about their output. The Chinquapin influence is harder to pin down. I think I recognise it in toffee found in the nose of both and as well as the shared cinnamon in the tail, but it’s far from clear cut, whereas I think the other casks have more obvious calling cards. I have to say, I’m very impressed by both iterations of their batched entry levels, and would be happy to own a full-sized one of either.

I´d say more than lightly peated. Better on the nose than on the palate but nice hint of bacon in the finish. Very young but very balanced whisky with lot of character, needs more transition, development and complexity. It´ll come with older bottles, looking forward to what Raasay produces next.

Very good for such a young whisky and distillery. Very interesting on the nose, good caskplay and decent mouthfill. Looking forward to see what they can offer us in the near future.

The nose has some interesting/very unique aromas. Lanolin? Something vegetal for sure. Hard to say if it comes from the peat, spirit, or the combination of casks. However, on the palate and in the finish the youth becomes quite apparent. I intend to revisit this when the Raasay whisky reaches 10 years of age. My feeling is that this distillery has some potential...

Well, it's a start... the most beautiful bottle is the one with the seafood relief. That's why I bought this bottle. Bottled after only three years of maturation, it can call itself a Scotch Single Malt Whisky, but it's certainly not truly mature yet. This is somewhat masked by the different cask types used, and the light peat smoke also has a positive effect. I'm looking forward to a mature Raasay in a few years!

Deliciously fresh and spicy. Warm long finish. Beautiful island whisky

I like him. Young notes, he'll be great when he has a few more years.

nose: on orange, tangerine, seaweed, iodine, pickled herring, wooden crates on the port, an earthy side, caramel and fresh lemon; sweet spices in return stuffy: on cereal, fresh malt, iodized humus, peppery and slightly spicy spices, a little menthol, on sweet plants on cola, the sweetness of dried Morello cherries. the feedback feels more velvety than the R-1 final: medium, sweet, on earthy peat, on sweet fruits, fruits from the orchards with poached pear and desiccated raspberries, a zest of orange.

First let me tell you, f I would be rating price to performance, this would be close to 90. For the price it sells it is a great whisky. But in general I really like it. Raasay has done some pretty amazing things since they started their journey.

Isle of Raasay R02 For months I have been waiting, here he is finally in his pretty golden dress. The bottle is superb and is a change from the classic round bottles without any charm. On the nose first come red fruits followed by sea iodine and a very light peat or smoke, I can't quite tell them apart. Something also reminiscent of spices but light. The taste is quite alcoholic, we can smell the beach with seaweed, sand and salt with a light fruit base, light due I think to its passage in casks of red wines. it is still quite dry. His young age has a lot to do with it. The finish is a little astringent but fresh with a touch of exotic fruits like lychees or lemon. I do not regret my purchase and find this whisky very interesting.

S 7 +: Gentle, delicate smoke on nose -: Rye spice x bitterness dominated palate Surprisingly complex with such age N 26 - Lightly peated malt (non-intrusive) - Kelp saltiness - Ripe fruit (red plum) (fruitiness grows over time) - Subtle baking spice P 22 - At first candied fruit bomb - Touch of mint intertwined with rye spice & juniper-like bitterness - Peat - malt sweetness F - Mid-short, mildly dry finish - Hay - Smoked spice gently lingering - Mildly oaky towards the end - Some wine tannin remains

NOSE: Fruity new make, juniper, fairly young but nice. (84p) Opens up and becomes more rounded and mellow with time (85p). TASTE: Juniper, sweet fruity notes, some white and black pepper. (85p) FINISH: Short. (82p) TOTAL SCORE 84 points.

A good to very good whisky, rather light yet complex, not at all intrusive, extremely mild with absolutely no harshness, and all this at 46.6 percent ABV.

This is a decent whisky from a fairly new distillery and they seem to have avoided the daft prices. I will look with interest of what they have to offer in the future.

For a more or less first release, the Raasay (unlike others) has a lot to offer. Great barrel combination with an extreme drinkability.

Aroma: smoky, peaty, piquant, with fruity elements; dusty, vanilla-like sweetness; dissipates quickly. Taste: youthful, slightly alcoholic, peaty, smoky, peppery, vanilla, caramel. Aftertaste: spicy freshness of medium duration. Balance: simple and flat.

On this beautiful portal you will find some reviews that describe this bottling as heavily smoky. Perhaps the bottle had been open for too long at the trade fair, there was definitely not much left in it. I definitely didn't find it overly smoky. Will try in Winterthur in 2022

Aroma: fruity, sweet, a little malt and alcohol Taste: peaty, strong, surrounded by berry fruits and fruity sweetness, slightly salty and peppery finish

light smoke with strong maritime notes on the nose; light fruity. In the taste a lot of spice, then more fruit. Long-lasting with a maritime character. [86 - 82 = good whisky -> get (second) bottle? Maybe...]