The Past Reborn

Your whisky expert finds a forgotten historic blend is now being resurrected in a new and exciting Hebridean distillery

- Euan Duguid

JUST over two years ago, I likened the ventures of whisky innovator Alasdair Day to a Back to The Futurestyle caper.

Not only had Alasdair travelled through the mists of time to resurrect a forgotten whisky blended by a forebear in the Scottish Borders during the early 1900s, but he’d also used his time-travelling expertise to unveil a sample of a dram from a Hebridean distillery – that hadn’t even been built yet!

Well, fast forward to the current day, and in the words of Doc Emmett Brown – Great Scott! That very distillery on Raasay, the tiny island situated off the East coast of Skye, is now complete and fully operational. And, for once, Alasdair is taking time to savour the here and now.

“The journey to get where we are today has been full of challenges and exciting milestones, and the reward of walking into a working still room on this wee Hebridean island is indescribable.

“I’m exceptionally proud to see the Isle of Raasay Distillery open. We have a fantastic production team made up of young talent and ambition, long-term expertise and born-and-raised local skill.

“There is, of course, plenty to happen before we bottle our first single malt in 2020 but I’m filled with excitement about it.”