Isle of Raasay Columbian Oak

Oak is vital for making whisky, but different species have different qualities. You have quercus alba American white oak used in bourbon barrels (and some sherry casks), then quercus robur European oak for traditional sherry butts. Perhaps quercus petraea, sessile oak sometimes seen as Limousin oak or simply ‘French oak’. Japanese mizunara oak is quercus crispula, a type of quercus mongolica. But quercus humboldtii from Columbia? You don’t see that every day! (The only other example we can think of is Black Bottle Andean Oak.)

This lightly peated whisky from the Isle of Raasay – resident population 195 – was matured entirely in fresh Colombian oak barriques. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised when even their signature core release is partly matured in Chinkapin oak (quercus muehlenbergii, in case you’re wondering).