The multimillion-pound Raasay Distillery and visitor experience centre will be independently owned & operated by R&B Distillers and hopes to open in January 2017, if planning permission is granted later this year.
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| Alasdair Day: Co-Founder of R&B Distillers Ltd |
The development would become the island's first legal distillery and is expected to generate employment for eleven of the island’s 120 residents.
The creation of a state-of-the-art visitor experience centre and luxury accommodation - which will include the restoration of the island's currently derelict Victorian hotel, Borodale House - is hoped to put Raasay on the map for whisky lovers around the globe.
Scottish entrepreneur Bill Dobbie and business partner Alasdair Day, who currently produces the Tweeddale whisky brand, founded R&B Distillers in 2014. They are hoping to release the first batch of Raasay whisky by 2020 and produce up to 150,000 bottles of whisky a year thereafter.
Commenting on the news, Alasdair Day, said: “It’s incredible to think that there are still areas of Scotland completely forgotten by whisky. The Isle of Raasay is one of those unique locations and the perfect home for R&B Distillers to handcraft whiskies of uncommon provenance. We’re now working hard to engineer a whisky destination unlike any other. From the magnificent views over to Skye, to experiencing craft distilling first hand, we can’t wait for visitors to discover our whiskies, the island and the community here on Raasay.”
Around 12,000 people are expected to visit the Raasay Distillery in its first year, where tourists and whisky enthusiasts alike can witness the craft distilling process first hand.
Plans are also afoot for R&B Distilers to open a distillery in the Scottish Borders; where the last whisky distillery closed over 150 years ago.
In September 2015, R&B Distillers hope to release ‘Raasay While We Wait’. Blended from two Highland whiskies from one distillery. It is hoped the whisky will be representative of the Raasay Single Malt due for release in 2020.
Source: R&B Distillers Ltd