On Saturday 16th September 2017, whisky makers R&B Distillers will officially open the Isle of Raasay Distillery, the first (legal!) whisky distillery on this small Scottish island.

The distillery will be opened by renowned spirits writer and whisky expert, Dave Broom. The much-lauded spirits writer and founder of scotchwhisky.com, will cut the ribbon into the production room of the distillery and join co-founders of R&B Distillers, Alasdair Day and Bill Dobbie, along with friends, family and islanders to celebrate the opening of island’s first distillery.

Young distilling graduate and Head Distiller, Iain Robertson, with the guidance of Master Distiller Chris Anderson, commenced whisky production this week and guests to the opening will be able to witness the first whisky making in action. The distillery will officially open to the public in October and visitors will be taken on a fascinating tours around this unique distillery: they will learn about the unusual geology that influences the flavour of Raasay Scotch; spot the resident bat population in the ‘Bat Hotel’ and visit the Celtic Well that provides water to the distillery. Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, friends, family, industry figures, press and all the island’s residents have been invited to join the founders in a ceilidh at neighbouring Raasay House.

Born in Glasgow, Dave Broom has written regularly about all spirit categories. Of his twelve books, two: ‘Drink: Never Mind the Peanuts’ and ‘Rum’ won the Glenfiddich award. His Whisky: The Manual was awarded Best Spirits Book at the Spirited Awards in 2015 and the ‘World Atlas of Whisky’ has been called “a landmark publication”. His book ‘Rum: The Manual’ was published in 2017 and ‘Whisky-do, a Journey into Japanese Whisky’ will be published in October 2017.