Isle of Skye

Isle of Raasay Distillery

Raasay's first legal distillery, opened in 2017 in a Victorian villa looking across the Sound to Skye.

Welcome

Twenty-five minutes on the ferry from Sconser, and a short climb from the pier, the Isle of Raasay Distillery sits in Borodale House, a Victorian villa of 1877, with a gold-clad visitor centre at its side and the Cuillin filling the view across the Sound.

Raasay has a long past in illicit stills, but this is its first legal distillery, opened in 2017.

The tour runs past the copper stills and ends in the tasting room with three of the island's spirits, including The Draam, the signature single malt, lightly peated and rich with dark fruit. Afterwards there is the bar, pouring the island's gin and rare single malts of its own, and a restaurant cooking Raasay venison and seafood from the waters around. To stay, there are six rooms in Borodale House itself and five cabins on the hill behind.

The Isle of Raasay Distillery's stone mansion and gold-clad extension face a courtyard with picnic tables.

Borodale House and the golden visitor centre beside it.Press a mark to look closer.

Before you go

Book a tour ahead, and check the ferry times back to Skye before you settle in at the bar.

Getting there: The CalMac ferry from Sconser on Skye takes 25 minutes. No need to book: be at Sconser 10 minutes before it sails, and buy tickets on board.
Tours: Daily, March to October. The tour and tasting is £22 for adults and £8 for ages 8 to 17, and takes 45 to 60 minutes.
Bar and shop: Daily from 10am, March to October: until 6pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, and late the rest of the week.
Restaurant: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Lunch and bar food 1pm to 5pm, dinner 6pm to 8pm; book for dinner.
Staying: Six rooms in the house and five cabins, Na Bothain, on the hill above.

Did you know

A stainless steel still with an open hatch stands in the production room at the Isle of Raasay Distillery.

Did you know

The first legal spirit on a smugglers' island.

Raasay has centuries of illicit distilling behind it. Legal distilling began when the distillery opened in September 2017, and the island's first legal spirit was a gin.

A whisky barrel stencilled Isle of Raasay Distillery sits among other casks.

Did you know

Barley on Raasay, for the first time in living memory.

In 2017 the distillery and a local farmer sowed trial plots of barley with the University of the Highlands and Islands. It was the first time in living memory that barley had been grown on the island for grain.

An arched window frames a misty loch and mountains at the Isle of Raasay Distillery.

Did you know

The Well of the Pale Cow.

The distillery's water comes from a well called Tobar na Bà Bàine, the Well of the Pale Cow. It runs over volcanic rock and filters through Jurassic sandstone on the way.

Swan-folded towels sit on a bed beside a fireplace in a guest room at the Isle of Raasay Distillery.

Did you know

A bed inside a working distillery.

The distillery says it is the only one in Scotland where you can sleep in the same building as the stills, and have your morning coffee while the day's spirit is being made a few feet away.

A man in a Raasay-branded fleece stands before a stone wall lined with whisky bottles at the Isle of Raasay Distillery.

Did you know

One in ten of the island works here.

Raasay has around 160 people, and more than one in ten of them works at the distillery. Across the business the average age is about 30.

Whisky casks labelled Isle of Raasay Distillery are racked and stacked in a warehouse.

Did you know

Six casks in one whisky.

The signature single malt is made from two spirits, one peated and one not, each matured in three kinds of cask: ex-rye whiskey, new chinkapin oak and ex-Bordeaux red wine.