{"product_id":"raasay-4-year-old-2020-smws-single-1st-fill-chinkapin-oak-barrel-162-3-grilled-lobster-tail-in-garlic-butter-island-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2025-70cl","title":"Raasay 4 Year Old 2020 SMWS Single 1st Fill Chinkapin Oak Barrel 162.3 Grilled Lobster Tail in Garlic Butter Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2025) 70cl","description":"\u003ch2\u003eRaasay 4 Year Old 2020 SMWS Single 1st Fill Chinkapin Oak Barrel 162.3 Grilled Lobster Tail in Garlic Butter Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2025) 70cl\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 of 264 bottles produced from a single 1st Fill Chinkapin Barrel\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eScotch Malt Whisky Society\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by Phillip 'Pip' Hills who, while travelling around Scotland in the 1970s, fell in love with whiskies drawn straight from the cask. After he expanded his syndicate the Society was purchased by Glenmorangie PLC in 2004. In 2015, the Society was sold back to private investors. In June 2021, the private owners floated the holding company The Artisanal Spirits Company plc on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has a unique code system where the first number refers to the distillery and the second refers to the cask from which the bottle comes. SMWS also offers the largest range of distilleries of any independent bottler. These curiously named drams really do have something for every whisky lover!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe SMWS are one of the Britain's most revered independent bottlers with a worldwide network of partner bars with one mission of getting as much whisky at natural cask strength without water to different nations including USA, Canada, Switzerland, UK, Austria, Germany and many others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTASTING NOTES\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe imagined chicken breasts in a marinade of soy sauce, ginger, pepper and honey served on a bed of a spicy sweet-smoked vegetable stir fry. On the palate “it certainly took no prisoners”, as we found ferociously smoked almonds, ash-coated goat's cheese and sun-charred grapes. We all grabbed the water jug and following dilution the scent was a mixture of sweet grilled lobster tails in garlic butter and vanilla custard tarts served with smoked butter caramel. We then carefully approached the dram and tasted it but there was no need for hesitancy as we chewed on roasted and dried ancho chillies, with a balance between sweet and smoky flavours and a manageable heat.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout Raasay\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner wrapper\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner-content\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner-content-inner\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"introduction\" itemprop=\"description\"\u003eThe first legal distillery on the Isle of Raasay will produce a distinctly island spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pagenav js-fixed\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe style of spirit produced at Isle of Raasay has long been defined by founder Alasdair Day. A long fermentation and plenty of copper contact, including a cooling jacket on the wash still lyne arm and an inclined lyne arm on the spirit still, will result in a clean, fruity character with an element of smoke imparted by the lightly peated malt. R\u0026amp;B Distillers intends to make full use of maturation in first-fill American oak, European oak and Tuscan red wine casks – a nod to the origins of Raasay’s stills.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIsle of Raasay’s signature whisky may be a fruity, sweet and lightly peated malt – as seen in its pre-emptive release, Raasay While We Wait – but the distillery’s configuration has been created to allow for experimentation with fermentation and distillation. Therefore we can expect to see a variety of styles from this small island distillery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eR\u0026amp;B Distillers co-founder Alasdair Day had intended to build his first distillery in the Scottish Borders, near to where his great grandfather blended whisky in a grocer’s shop. Day and business partner, internet entrepreneur Bill Dobbie, were in need of a plant to supply malt whisky for their Tweeddale blend.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever it was a recommendation from a friend that led the duo to consider the Hebridean island of Raasay for their first project. The island not only represented a prime opportunity in terms of location, but never before had Raasay been home to a legal whisky distillery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe company secured the vacant Borodale House in 2015, a Victorian building most recently used as a hotel which has since been renovated into a distillery, visitor centre and luxury overnight accommodation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe distillery’s first test mashing and distillation runs were conducted in September 2017, with the first casks being filled in October 2017.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn anticipation of the distillery’s first whisky in 2020, R\u0026amp;B created Raasay While We Wait in 2015, a peated Highland single malt that’s reflective of the spirit Raasay distillery will soon produce.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e60.9% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e60.9% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Raasay","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52792343069010,"sku":"RAAS4SMWS162.3","price":149.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1052\/9737\/9666\/files\/Raasay4YearOld2020SMWSSingle1stFillChinkapinOakBarrel162.3GrilledLobsterTailinGarlicButterIslandSingleMaltScotchWhisky_2025_70cl.jpg?v=1771970467","url":"https:\/\/whiskysituation.co.uk\/products\/raasay-4-year-old-2020-smws-single-1st-fill-chinkapin-oak-barrel-162-3-grilled-lobster-tail-in-garlic-butter-island-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2025-70cl","provider":"Whisky Situation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}