Raasay Batch R-02 (Skotchtoberfest #17)

And we wrap up Skotchtoberfest with a bottle of the second batch from Raasay. Let’s see what the batch variation is like relative to yesterday’s review.

Raasay Batch R-02, Island (Raasay) Single Malt, 46.4% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 2017 and 2018 from peated and unpeated malt, each style matured for 3 years in ex-rye casks, virgin chinkapin oak casks, and ex-Bordeaux red wine casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep copper; 1.0.

Nose: Light smoke with an ashy quality, like from kindling rather than a roaring or dying fire. Drying red fruit. Dried stone fruit. Musty notes come in when you get your nose in there, otherwise it’s just the traces of smoke, really.

Taste: Spicy. Creamy feel. Some smoke manifests as earthy cereals.

Finish: Malt then leather and spice. Chocolate. Gets sweeter over time.

It’s not often I feel I need to comment on a handful of things, but it’s the case here. Frist, wow, surprising how much darker it is than batch R-01. I like them about the same, but differently. Batch 1 the nose was stronger but I liked the finish more here. Getting sweeter over time was weird as sweetness in the finish in my experience has typically been either a burst at the start that fades or largely consistent throughout. The peat in the nose was lighter here, which I why I enjoyed it a touch less, but based on color and lighter smoke presence I’d guess this is a touch older and not just bottled at exactly three years old, supposing the cask ratios are the same. As far as I’m concerned, Raasay has established itself as a future big player in the lightly peated market. Here’s hoping for a heavily peated line (and an unpeated one while they’re at it) somewhere down the line.

Score: 83

Musical Evocation: Gorillaz – “Feel God Inc.”