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It has only been a few months since we opened to the public in January, but it seems so much has happened as we’ve joined Skye and Lochalsh’s community of must-visit attractions. Here at the distillery we’ve seen a steady rise month on month in the number of visitors coming to the island keen to experience the sights, sounds and smells of whisky production on Raasay.
We’ve welcomed dedicated whisky pilgrims from Japan, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, Belgium, England and the USA. We’ve had curious folk from Skye who never had the urge to venture across to Raasay until the distillery opened. And of course, we’ve had the committed distillery baggers from all over the UK making sure they tick off Scotland’s newest island distillery in the first year of production.
Five Star Visitor Attraction
In our pursuit of excellence we also joined VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance Scheme which benchmarks visitor experience at attractions the length and breadth of Scotland. The scheme employs specialist inspectors who make unannounced visits to assess the customer experience at first hand. We are therefore immensely proud and delighted to announce that following our inspection we have attained VisitScotland’s highest Five Star Visitor Attraction accreditation. The award is testimony to the talents and commitment to quality of the staff here on the island who on a daily basis share their knowledge, intelligence and good old island craic with visitors from all over the world.
Growing in Optimism
Our barley has been in the ground for around four weeks now and the healthy green shoots are stretching upwards in Andrew’s field.
May has been a fantastic month for growth and we are optimistic that this weather will continue to enable us to successfully harvest a bumper crop in September. The prize of growing enough barley to run a pure Isle of Raasay batch through to the cask is tantalising and well worth the effort by Peter Martin and his Agronomy Institute.
Raasay on the Road
In June we begin our summer season of whisky tastings on Skye beginning with the regular Tuesday session at the Cuillin Hills Hotel, in Portree.
We’ll all be taking turns at going out and about with our promotional material and introducing folk to the distinctive taste of Raasay so look out for us on the Skye roads this summer in our distinctive Land Rover Defender.
Slàinte!
Iain Hector
Visitor Experience Manager, Raasay Distillery
