THE Isle of Raasay, in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, is to get its first whisky distillery after the Highland Council approved the creation of the facility.
R&B Distillers plans to turn Borodale House, a derelict Victorian hotel, into a distillery and visitor centre, with the building work scheduled to start in April.
When the production of whisky begins next year, the distillery will be one of the island’s largest employers, providing work for 11 people from a population of about 170.
The council approved the ambitious plans after months of planning, discussions with architects, meetings with the island community, and talks with Raasay vole and bat specialists.
As well as the visitor centre, the distillery will boast luxury accommodation exclusively for members of its newly launched Na Tùsairean club.
The club, whose name translates as “The Pioneers”, will see the first 100 casks of Raasay whisky bottled exclusively for its members, who will receive one bottle each year for ten years.
The start of work on R&B Distillers’ second planned distillery in the Scottish Borders – potentially at a site in Peebles, the most popular location in a recent public vote hosted by the company – is yet to be announced.
Last year, R&B Distillers released two whiskies, Raasay While We Wait and Borders, which were designed to embody the styles of whiskies that will be produced by the respective distilleries once they open.
The company’s founder, Alasdair Day, worked with an unnamed Highland distillery to create the drams, which are not sold under any other brand.
Raasay While We Wait is a single malt whisky that makes use of peated and unpeated liquid originally aged in Bourbon casks, but finished in French oak, Tuscan red wine casks.
Meanwhile, Borders is a single-grain whisky first matured in Bourbon casks before finishing in Oloroso sherry barrels, creating a lighter and softer Lowland style.
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