Raasay While We Wait

 

 

 

46°

Distillery Officially Unknown - Highlands 

Bourbon Casks, 1st and 2d Fill Tuscan Red Wine Finish

Independent Bottling 

By R&B Distillers 

Limited Edition 

Single Malt 

Edited in 2018

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured

Peated from 20 to 25 ppm

The brand new distillery based on the island of Raasay opened in 2017. While it waits for its first single malt to be ready in 2020, it has released the aptly named While We Wait from another distillery in the Highlands. Rumour has it that this is Loch Lomond. The product, a blend of 45 ppm peat and non-peat, was aged for a few years in Bourbon casks, before finishing for 18 months in Tuscan wine casks made from Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. There are five editions of While We Wait: the First, Second and Third Releases, then the 2018 Release, and finally the Last Orders. The sample I drank was not from any of these editions, but from a 20cl bottle sold exclusively at the distillery from 2018.

Let's Taste It : 

Quite astringent peat combined with apricot jam. Some dried fruits, prunes, dates, figs. Spices: nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon. It lacks a bit of fullness, to be honest, but it's not bad. A touch of citrus, lemon and grapefruit. Iodine. Notes of vanilla and honey. After a while there's a precarious balance between bourbon, peat and apricot.
On the palate, it's suave at first, a good slice of vanilla, then the acidity takes over. It's acidic and spicy at the same time, with chilli, pepper and ginger. The finish is fairly aggressive, charcoal, quite long, with wood and marzipan in retro-olfaction. Italian white grape, a touch of gooseberry.

In Short, 

The nose lacks a little breadth, but it's still quite good, and the finish is sufficiently long and nuanced. On the palate, however, I found it failing, unbalanced and even a little unpleasant. The marketing department claims that this is a representative product of what the distillery wants to do. We can only pray that this is not the case.

Score : 82

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

  

                                           Ken Hensley - Lady in Black