Isle of Raasay

Type: Distillery and brand

Isle of Raasay Distillery makes its whisky on Raasay, the island between Skye and the Scottish mainland, with a stated commitment to distilling, maturing and bottling every drop there. The producer dates the introduction of its flagship to 2021 and its naming as The Draam to 2025, although the first single malt date is disputed. The whisky brings together separately matured peated and unpeated spirit through the producer’s Na Sia recipe.[1][3][6]

An island distillery, not a Skye whisky

Raasay’s position helps explain a recurring misunderstanding about its whisky. The island lies between Skye and the mainland, and the distillery occupies a former hotel on its southwest side, looking towards Skye. Those views are part of the setting, not the whisky’s place of production: the producer identifies Raasay itself as the place where its spirit is distilled, matured and bottled.[1][7][8]

Borodale House gives the project a centre beyond its production equipment. The former hotel connects the distillery’s working premises with its accommodation, making the building part of both the whisky story and the visitor experience. Trade accounts also record that rooms were set aside for members of Na Tusairean, meaning “The Pioneers”.[6][8]

The distinction between island, company and whisky is worth keeping clear. Raasay is the place; R&B Distillers is the owner named by the producer; Isle of Raasay is the distillery and whisky identity; The Draam is the name given to its flagship single malt in 2025.[1][3]

From a Borders idea to Borodale House

The partnership began before the island site was chosen. According to the producer, Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day first met in 2013; trade accounts date the founding of R&B Distillers to 2014. The published trade history describes Day as a whisky blender and Dobbie as an online dating entrepreneur.[1][6][7]

Day’s initial search was not focused on Raasay. The trade account records that he first looked in the Borders, where his great-grandfather had lived, before being steered towards the island. The producer says Raasay had been identified as the site by 2015, with planning permission following in 2016.[1][6]

Story box: A distillery takes shape on Raasay

• Founding story: The producer dates Dobbie and Day’s first meeting to 2013, the selection of Raasay to 2015 and planning permission to 2016. These are the producer’s account of the project’s development.[1]
• Turning point: The producer records the opening, with spirit flowing, on 14 September 2017. A trade account separately dates the first cask fills to October 2017.[1][8]
• Documented record: The opening and first cask fills are different milestones. Neither date should silently replace the other.
• Sources and claim mapping: Meeting, site selection, permission and opening: the producer’s account. First cask fills: the trade account.
• Last checked: 7 November 2026.

The production timeline

The useful chronology is a sequence of separate events, rather than one founding date made to stand for everything. Company formation, opening, cask filling and the introduction of the flagship each answer a different question.

The date of the first single malt release remains disputed. The producer dates the introduction of its flagship to 2021, supported by one trade account, while another trade history gives September 2020 and a release of 7,500 bottles. Those accounts should not be combined into a single definitive first-release date.[3][8][9]

The September and October 2017 dates need a different treatment. They identify opening and first spirit on one hand, and first cask fills on the other; the supplied record marks the start-date question as disputed, but preserving the event descriptions makes the chronology more useful than selecting one date alone.[1][8]

What Isle of Raasay is known for

The defining production idea is Na Sia, translated by the producer as “The Six”. Rather than presenting peated and unpeated spirit as entirely separate identities, the recipe brings together spirit matured separately through six cask components. The named cask families include rye, virgin Chinkapin oak and Bordeaux red wine.[4][6]

That is the most useful starting point for understanding Raasay’s range. The flagship represents the combined recipe, while the Na Sia Single Cask Series gives individual casks their own bottlings. Trade coverage records a seven-year-old example from American rye casks in that series.[9]

The producer publishes a fermentation time of 115 hours and a capacity figure of 188,000 litres of pure alcohol, checked in November 2026. The supplied record does not establish the capacity figure’s period or whether it is installed capacity, and it does not establish actual output.[2]

These details describe the production approach without supplying a tasting verdict. The producer calls The Draam lightly peated; more specific claims about its aroma, texture or finish would need an attributed tasting source or a recorded tasting, neither of which is supplied here.[3]

The Draam and the wider whisky range

The Draam’s name is newer than the flagship itself. The producer says the single malt was first introduced in 2021 and officially named in 2025, so the naming date should not be mistaken for the beginning of Raasay’s flagship whisky.[3]

The producer lists The Draam at 46.4% ABV, with natural colour and no chill filtration. These are published production and presentation claims, not a substitute for an assessment of an individual bottle. They are also distinct from the Na Sia recipe, which explains how the constituent spirit and casks are brought together.[3][4][6]

A documented Isle of Raasay Cask Strength release was bottled at 61.6% ABV, with 5,500 bottles stated by the producer. Those figures belong to that release; they should not be treated as permanent specifications for every future bottling bearing the cask-strength name.[4]

The Na Sia Single Cask Series provides another way to distinguish the range. Its documented seven-year-old American rye cask bottling is an individual expression, rather than an age statement for the flagship. Keeping the full expression name attached to the age avoids transferring one bottling’s specification to another.[9]

Before these Raasay-distilled releases, the While We Wait series comprised five independently bottled single malts released from 2017 to 2020. That earlier series belongs in the brand’s history, but it should not be confused with whisky distilled at the island site.[7][8]

Two misconceptions to leave behind

Raasay whisky is not made on Skye. The view towards Skye can make the association understandable, but the producer’s stated approach is to distil, mature and bottle on Raasay. The island’s name is therefore a production location, not simply a reference to the surrounding scenery.[1][8]

Whisky was not the island’s first legal spirit. The producer identifies gin as Raasay’s first legal spirit. Raasay has a history of illicit distilling, and this is the island’s first legal distillery.[1][2] The first legal spirit is a separate question from the gin’s commercial launch and the disputed first single malt date.

Visiting and staying at the distillery

Accommodation is a distinctive part of the published visitor account. Trade coverage records stays within the distillery building and five hillside cabins called Na Bothain. The building’s earlier life as a hotel gives that arrangement a connection to the site’s history rather than making it an unrelated addition.[8][10]

Treat those descriptions as a reason to consult the official website, not as confirmation of present availability. Before making arrangements, check accommodation bookings, tour booking requirements, accessibility and age conditions directly with the distillery. Staying at the site and accessing its working production areas are separate arrangements.

Where to go next

• Talisker: continue with another island distillery profile.
• Torabhaig: explore a neighbouring subject in the island distillery collection.
• Isle of Harris: follow another island distillery’s development.

Sources

1. Isle of Raasay Distillery. Our Story. Undated web page, supplied record checked November 2026. https://raasaydistillery.com/our-story/
2. Isle of Raasay Distillery. Raasay Whisky. Undated web page, supplied record checked November 2026. https://raasaydistillery.com/raasay-whisky/
3. Isle of Raasay Distillery. The Draam. Undated web page, supplied record checked November 2026. https://raasaydistillery.com/raasay-whisky/single-malt/
4. Isle of Raasay Distillery. Isle of Raasay Cask Strength Single Malt. Undated web page, supplied record checked November 2026. https://raasaydistillery.com/product/single-malt-cask-strength/
5. Scotch Whisky, Whiskypedia. R&B Distillers. Undated trade reference, supplied record checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/9240/r-b-distillers/
6. Scottish Delight. Isle of Raasay Distillery: History & Whisky Guide. Undated trade guide, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.scottishdelight.com/scottish-whisky/island-whisky/isle-of-raasay-whisky-island/
7. Ed Private Tours. Isle of Raasay Distillery. Undated trade account, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.edprivatetours.com/blog/distilleries/isle-of-rasay-distillery/
8. Master of Malt. Isle of Raasay. Undated trade reference, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.masterofmalt.com/distilleries/isle-of-raasay/
9. Whisky Clan. Isle of Raasay Distillery: History, Owner and Visitor Guide. Undated trade guide, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.whisky-clan.com/post/isle-of-raasay-distillery-history-owner-and-visitor-guide

This article is desk research based on the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing producer statements from trade accounts and retaining unresolved chronology.

Last checked: November 2026