Isle of Raasay Cask Strength Hebridean Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Isle of Raasay Cask Strength Hebridean Single Malt Scotch Whisky is the distillery's signature single malt at full natural barrel strength — roughly 61% ABV — from the remote Hebridean island of Raasay, and it is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.
Na Sia — Gaelic for "The Six" — is the distillery's six-cask recipe: peated and unpeated spirit matured separately in first-fill ex-rye whiskey casks (62%), virgin Chinkapin oak (24.5%) and first-fill Bordeaux red wine casks (13.5%), then married together. The Cask Strength is that whisky undiluted — the flagship dialled to eleven — non-chill filtered with natural colour, from the first legal distillery on Raasay (est. 2017). The 2024 annual edition was limited to 5,500 bottles, and the expression was crowned the World's Best Scotch Whisky at the 2025 Las Vegas Global Spirits Awards (Platinum, 99/100).
Tasting notes (critic/award copy): pronounced aromatic smoke with ripe cherries, apricots and blackcurrants on the nose; mouth-filling candied ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, subtle vanilla and butterscotch on the palate; a long, dry, complex finish of sandalwood, sea salt and lingering smoke.
Why buy the Cask Strength? Because it is the purest expression of Raasay's six-cask craft — and a double Gold SFWSC 2025, 94-point Whisky Advocate, World's Best Scotch whisky at cask strength is a trophy pour. Explore the scotch whisky collection, the Isle of Raasay brand collection, and all whisky.
Serving note: try it as the distiller intended first, then add water a few drops at a time — it takes dilution beautifully and transforms with it.
What is the ABV? Around 61% ABV at cask strength (varies by annual batch — confirm off the bottle), 700mL.
What is the six-cask recipe? First-fill ex-rye whiskey, virgin Chinkapin oak and first-fill Bordeaux red wine casks, each maturing peated and unpeated spirit separately before marrying.
What awards has it won? World's Best Scotch Whisky 2025 (Las Vegas Global Spirits Awards, Platinum, 99/100), Double Gold SFWSC 2025, 94 points Whisky Advocate.
Is it peated? Lightly peated — the house style balances peat smoke with rich dark fruit.