A SMALL Hebridean island off the coast of Skye is poised to become home to a new distillery.
R&B Distillers, which was set up in 2014 by entrepreneur Bill Dobbie and whisky blender Alasdair Day, hopes to open the Raasay Distillery, on the Isle of Raasay, in January 2017.
If proposals are approved, the distillery development would include a visitor centre, tasting room with views over the Cuillin mountain range, and luxury accommodation at Victorian hotel, Borodale House.
R&B Distillers said it hopes to release the first batch of Raasay whisky by 2020 and produce up to 150,000 bottles of whisky a year thereafter. It aims to attract 12,000 visitors in its first year.
MD Alasdair Day, who produces Tweeddale whisky, 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.”
