Isle of Raasay Distillery undertakes a second year of barley variety trials on Raasay
Following a successful barley variety trial on the island in 2017, Isle of Raasay Distillery will undertake a second trial to determine which varieties grow and ripen on the island. Raasay Distillery has the ultimate long-term objective of growing enough barley on Raasay to produce at least one batch per year of single malt made with 100% Raasay barley. On Thursday 2nd August 2018, Raasay Distillery will welcome everyone interested in learning more about the barley trial for presentations exploring progress of the barley trial to date and plans for the future.
The first barley trial on Raasay commenced in April 2017 and was carried out in conjunction with Interface, Peter Martin, Director of Agronomy Institute at University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), and local farmer Andrew Gillies. Five varieties of barley were trialled in Gillies Mill Park Field: Concerto (the commercial variety) Tartan, Bere, Iskria and Kannas. The latter three ripened successfully; the barley was harvested on 26th August 2017 and then transported to the James Hutton Institute in Dundee to be dried. It was then malted by Hugh Alexander from Curio Group in June and July 2018 and a small amount of Raasay peat was used during this malting process. The distillery plans to use all three varieties of malted barley to make a special batch of Raasay Whisky and this mash will be taking place during the open day on 2nd August.
The 2017 trial revealed that current commercial barley varieties grow but do not ripen on Raasay. This is due to a much shorter growing season owing to the high rainfall level in March, April and September on the island. For the 2018 trial, Raasay Distillery will work again with Martin and Gillies to cultivate four varieties in Mill Park Field: Iskria, an early two row Icelandic variety; Golden Promise, a two row U.K. malting variety first released in the 1960s; Anneli an early two row Swedish Variety which will replace Kannas as it is no longer available; and Brage, a medium-early six row Norwegian variety. Raasay Distillery hopes to identify one suitable variety to grow on Raasay in the future and to improve the yield in 2018.
At the open day on 2nd August, Martin will introduce the barley varieties and will discuss the challenges that have been encountered while growing commercial varieties on Raasay. Martin’s expertise has been invaluable to the project; he has worked with other distillers, principally Bruichladdich and Highland Park, to produce whisky using non-commercial barley varieties. He has also worked with the Northern Periphery Programme (in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Faroe Isles and Scotland) and this experience has illuminated the varieties should grow successfully on the island. Co-founder of Raasay Distillery, Alasdair Day, will also discuss the background and future of the project and Hugh Alexander from Curio Group will be explain the processes involved in micro-malting the Raasay Barley. The distillery will also offer free distillery tours during the open day and there will also be lunch available to purchase in the Gathering Room.
This distillery build project has relied upon the island resources: the stone used to build the supporting wall at the rear of the distillery is from the site itself; wood from the site has be used for furnishings within the accommodation, and an impressive feature wall in the Gathering Room comprises stones, bottles and treasures, found washed up on the shoreline. Raasay Distillery has relied upon the support of the local community and for this barley trial the advice and support of Andrew Gillies has been invaluable.
With a Celtic well on site providing access to high mineral content water, as well as a good supply of peat in the north of the island, Raasay Distillery is keen to create at least one batch of Raasay Scotch per year that uses all-local ingredients. While acknowledging that this whisky will be a small percentage of total production, the distillery is keen to challenge the limitations of production in such an unusual location.
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RAASAY DISTILLERY
Raasay Distillery began producing whisky in September 2017. It is owned by independent Scottish whisky company R&B Distillers.
In February 2016, the Highland Council granted permission for the construction of a distillery on Raasay. Subsequent grants were secured from the Food Processing Marketing and Co-Operation Grants Scheme, as well as the Highlands and Islands Enterprise for the development of a visitor centre, which is projected to bring 12,000 visitors to Raasay in its first year.
Raasay Single Malt will be ready to drink from 2020 and will encapsulate the rugged elegance of the island terroir. The high mineral content of the island’s water, which filters across volcanic rock from Dun Caan, will be integral to the flavour of the whisky. A long fermentation time helps to retain the minerality, resulting in a fruity whisky that will become a characteristic of Raasay single malt. Head Distiller Iain Robertson has trained a team of four distillery operators to enable the distillery to run on two shifts per day, resulting in an increase capacity of 188,000 LPA from July 2018.
Isle of Raasay Distillery is will produce Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
• Capacity: 188,000 LPA
• Fermentation Time: 115 hours
• Spirit Still: 3,600 L • Wash Still: 5,000 L
• Washback Size: 5,000 L
• Maturation: All maturation on site Produced using local water supply at every stage of distillation and reduction
Barley Open Day at Raasay Distillery Thursday 2nd August 2018 12pm-1pm: Presentations in the Gathering Room: 1pm-1.30pm: Barley Field Visit 1.30pm-2pm: Lunch & Refreshments available to purchase in the Gathering Room 2pm-3pm: Raasay Barley Mashing
Raasay Distillery, Borodale House, Isle of Raasay, Kyle IV40 8PB
T: 01478 470178 raasaydistillery.com @raasaydistillery
