Day 2: My Islands whisky trip – Raasay Distillery
My Itinerary
08:15 – 08:46: Bus (Stagecoach 57A): Uig Hotel – Portree Somerled Square
09:06 – 09:25: Bus (Stagecoach 608): Portree Somerled Square – Sconser
09:30 – 10:25: Tea/Cake at The Noost
10:30 – 10:55: Ferry (Calmac: Raasay): Sconser – Raasay
10:25 – 10:35: Walk to Raasay Distillery
13:45 – 14:45: Standard Tour Raasay Distillery
Hotel: Raasay Distillery
I started today with the earliest breakfast slot at 7:15 as I was catching the early bus to Portree. I found the breakfast at the Uig hotel to be pretty decent, there was a really good range of choices from smoked salmon, porridge and the classic full Scottish. I opted for full Scottish, which included some Stornoway black pudding, which was ideal fuel for a long day ahead.
The bus stop was only about 100 yards from the hotel, though I was a bit confused when checking the bus time in the Stagecoach Bus App, as it showed two number 57 buses arriving at the same time, both going to Portree. It turned out that the early buses also double as school transport. The bus was packed and running late, which was a concern as I only had a 15-minute connection to my next bus. To make matters more interesting, the bus ended up terminating at the high school, where I had to transfer to a shuttle bus to Somerled Square. Thankfully, I made it with around five minutes to spare, as my connecting bus was running slightly late anyway, which was good as the next bus was not until 3pm!
I then caught the Stagecoach 52 bus for a short but scenic journey to the Sconser ferry terminal. The terminal has limited facilities with an indoor waiting room and some toilets, but it is unstaffed, so you either buy your ticket online or on board the ferry. I had an hour before my ferry, so I headed to a small café right next to the terminal called The Noost. It’s very much a hole-in-the-wall spot with outdoor seating overlooking Loch Sligachan, but it is perfect if you catch the weather as I did and want a quick snack or drink while you wait or are passing through.
The ferry was right on time, and the short 30-minute crossing offered some great views of Skye and Raasay in the sun, and as you look back at Scrabster, you get a great view of the Red Cuillin mountain. On arrival at Raasay, I had plenty of time before my tour, so I wandered along the pier, explored the beach, and sat on a bench soaking up the fantastic weather. The Raasay Distillery is less than a ten-minute walk from the ferry terminal. You head straight up the road, pass Raasay House, take a right, and it’s on your left. As there is essentially one road, it’s impossible to get lost.
I arrived at the distillery around 11:30 am, which was too early to get into my room, and I had a couple of hours before my tour. However, the bar was open, so I decided to try a whisky flight before my tour. The bar sits just behind the reception/shop area, and the flights are reasonably priced at £20 for three drams.
I went for a standard flight which had The Draam, the draam cask strength, and a mini Old Fashioned Draam. There are a few outdoor benches, which are perfect in good weather, so I took my drinks outside and drank my whisky in the sun while admiring the views. The flight was interesting, though if I’m honest, these weren’t my favourite expressions of Raasay. The Draam is classic and very drinkable, but the cask strength felt a bit overpowering. The Old Fashioned was interesting as it was a mini cocktail served in dram form. I’m not usually a fan of whisky cocktails, but this wasn’t bad, just a bit underwhelming in terms of flavour.
After my drinks, I headed for my tour, which begins in the tasting room at the back of the bar. It started with a short history of the island and distillery, which I found quite interesting. I hadn’t realised just how sparsely populated Raasay is, with only around 161 residents, roughly 30 of whom work at the distillery.
The distillery takes quite an experimental approach, using some unusual cask types, which include Chinkapin oak and Hungarian oak, neither of which I had heard of before. It’s also relatively young, having been producing whisky for less than 10 years. Currently, Raasay produce a lightly peated spirit (around 10ppm), but blend that with the unpeated spirit that they also produce, although they’re planning to develop an age-statement core range in the future.
The tour covered the usual distillery areas, and one thing that really stood out was the scale of production, which is really small. They currently only produce around 100,000 litres of spirit annually, with the capacity to double that. The stills are fairly miniature compared to those at larger distilleries, although they do have a great view behind them. Like many newer distilleries, they also produce gin, but interestingly, they use the whisky spirit and wash stills for gin. As a result, they pause whisky production for a couple of weeks each year to produce their Raasay gin. Although they store casks in Raasay, you don’t visit the warehouse on the standard tour.
The final part of the tour returned to the tasting room, where we sampled three drams: The Draam, Dun Cana, and a Chinkapin oak virgin cask release. All were very drinkable, but the highlights were definitely the latter two.
The Chinkapin oak expression had an incredible colour, which I would have guessed was a sherry cask at first glance. On the palate, it delivered plenty of oak alongside sweet caramel notes. My favourite, though, was the Dun Cana, which was a PX and Oloroso quarter cask finish. Sometimes I find double sherry finishes to be overwhelming, but this struck a perfect balance. It was rich and fruity, with just a hint of smoke and good enough that I picked up a bottle after the tour.
For the rest of the day I decided to make the most of the weather with the temperature hitting around 20°C. I headed up Temptation Hill, which is a short walk from the distillery. The path is well signposted and a fairly easy climb, which is absolutely worth it on a clear day to enjoy the panoramic views from the top.
For the evening, I had dinner booked at Raasay House Hotel. There are limited dining options on Raasay, and while the distillery restaurant looked great, the fixed menu at £63 plus service charge was a bit too pricey for me. Raasay House is only about five minutes walk from the distillery and it has an elevated location looking out towards the Cullin mountain range of Skye. Their menu was mid-range in price and had some good options, but I went for the butcher’s cut of the day, which was venison. I wouldn’t have complained if the portion had been slightly larger, but the quality was excellent.
After dinner, I decided to check out the walled garden, which is just at the back of Raasay House, and it is free to enter and a quite peaceful location. Afterwards, I headed back to the distillery hotel and enjoyed a complimentary pint at the bar (you get a free welcome drink), before returning to my room for a dram of Raasay, which I poured from the complimentary bottle left in my room.
