Isle of Raasay

In 2015, R. & B. Distillers, headquartered in Edinburgh, acquired Borodale House on Raasay Island near the east coast of Skye – a Victorian villa and former hotel. After 18 months of renovation and expansion, the distillery began production in September 2017. Borodale House itself has been converted into a visitor centre and provides accommodation for the distillery's "Na Tùsairean" (Gaelic for "pioneers") club members. Raasay (Ratharsair in Gaelic) means "island of the roe deer". Between the 16th and 19th centuries, it was owned by a branch of the MacLeod clan. In 1773, Johnson and Boswell were entertained by the local laird, Malcolm MacLeod of Raasay. Dr. Johnson wrote: "Our reception exceeded all expectations. It was more than we could have imagined – civil, elegant, and plentiful beyond measure. After the usual tea and conversation, evening came. The carpet was rolled up; musicians were summoned, everyone was invited to dance, and the ladies were never more willing to accept... Time passed, the dancing stopped, and four people and thirty people sat at two tables in the same room. After dinner, the ladies sang Erse songs, and I was like an English audience listening to an Italian opera, not understanding the words but still listening with great pleasure." As the birthplace of Sorley Maclean (the greatest Gaelic poet of the 20th century), John Mackay (Queen Victoria's piper), and Calum MacLeod (who built a two-mile-long road on the island by himself, providing the theme for a song and a TV drama), the island has about 150 residents. The distillery hopes to attract about 12,000 tourists to the island each year, which will greatly boost the local economy. The founders of R. & B. Distillers are Alasdair Day and Bill Dobbie. The former's great-grandfather joined a company in 1895 that owned a grocery store, brewing and whisky blending operations near the Scottish border. This company was founded in 1820, and Alasdair still holds its blending manual. Based on this manual, he released Tweeddale blended whisky in 2009. In 2013, he decided to build a distillery to provide base spirits for his blended whisky, and visited several places near the Scottish border. The next year, he decided to partner with Bill Dobbie, who wanted to invest in a distillery, and together they founded R. & B. Distillers. In July 2014, Iain Robertson, a Heriot-Watt University brewing and distilling graduate, was appointed distillery manager, and master distiller Chris Anderson (see "Torabhaig") supervised the first five months of production. Raasay Single Malt will be launched in 2020. Meanwhile, the "While We Wait" series 46% ABV single malt is now available at the distillery, specialty retailers, and online. A cask contains two types of single malts from undisclosed distilleries, one peated and one unpeated, then finished in French oak Tuscan wine casks from three vineyards planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Laphroaig distillery is conducting pioneering experiments on Islay, cultivating heritage barley varieties to create truly farm-to-bottle single malt expressions.