Batches : Raasay releases

Distilleries often release whisky in batches, the same name but subtly different recipes, ABVs, maturation periods etc. In this, occasional series, I'm going to review a number of different Batches in my Side-by-side format to see if I can detect any differences, does each batch get better or are they to all intents and purposes the same?

This time I'll be reviewing batches R-01 and R-02 from Raasay.

I've already reviewed R-01 here and was very impressed. Raasay even quote me on their website:

So let's see how R-02 compares:

Dram	R-01 (May 2021)	R-02 (September 2021)
Characteristics (Shared)	ABV: 46.4% Natural colour, non-chill filtered Barley Variety: Concerto Yeast Type: Distillers’ Yeast Spirit Types: Isle of Raasay peated & unpeated spirit Peat Level: Barley 48-52ppm Cask Types: First fill ex-Rye Whiskey, virgin Chinkapin oak, and first fill Bordeaux red wine Maturation & Bottling: Isle of Raasay Distillery Cask Filling Strength: 63.5% abv
Characteristics (Different)	Peat Level Residual in Bottle 6ppm Distilled: 03/11/2017 to 06/04/2018 Vatting: 19/04/2021 to 3/05/2021 Bottling: 10/05/2021 to 4/06/2021	Peat Level Residual in Bottle 12ppm Distilled: 22/11/2017 to 27/02/2018 Vatting: 23/07/2021 to 16/08/2021 Bottling: 17/08/2021 to ongoing
Distillery tasting notes	We set out to emulate some older styles of Hebridean single malts, with subtle, fragrant smokiness balanced with dark fruit flavours.	Lightly peated balanced with rich dark fruit flavours. Honey gold in colour with hints of red wine hues.
My thoughts:
Appearance	Colour differences in the bottles due to R-01 being only 1/4 full!
	Rich gold in the glass, swirls cling as a hairline crack (normally a sign  of a really high ABV), take a while to bead up and fall as slow thick legs.	Rich gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line in the glass, take a while to bead up and fall as slow thin legs. interesting that they are different.
Nose	Huge peat smoke to start - coal fire and embers rather than medicinal or smoky bacon, there a maritime note too. Orchard fruit notes - pear, apple, peach , apricot and some herbal notes - cut grass, oregano. There's some peppery spice and then we're back to the smoke.	The smoke isn't as intense on the nose - the maritime notes comes through more - there's still a little smoky bacon but I was expecting much more. A little time and air offers the orchard fruit and peppery spice from R-01. So again a little different.
Palate	Sweet spicy arrival - starts with the orchard fruit from the nose, along with a little black pepper. The smoke comes through almost immediately dry and ashy. There's a little seaweedy maritime influence and some honey sweetness. A few more sips and the fruit comes to the fore - berries and cherries, some citrus and a little tropical fruit covered in vanilla custard. A really complex dram for it's age - the cask and peated / unpeated combination working well.	Very similar to R-01 - sweet and spicy -orchard fruit, maritime salt, honey, black pepper. The berries and cherries I found in R-01 are here again too. The smoke is a little different this time - it's dry and ashy but has a mineral element to it - long after the liquid has disappeared the smoke remains on the tongue - a little salty, a little gritty - like eating bacon sandwiches on a windy beach? A few more sips and the sour citrus from R-01 is here too, the tropical fruit and vanilla is gone - the summer berries shine through a little more.
Finish	Lingering dry ashy smoke, tropical fruit and peppery spice.	Lingering dry ashy smoke, berry fruit and huge peppery spice.
Overall	R-01 was at least 3y 1m old, R-02 slightly older at 3y 6m - did that make much difference? R-01 was 6ppm, R-02 was 12ppm - did that make much difference? We don't know how the ratios of the six casks used in R-01 changed to R-02 except that there was more of one or more of the peated set. Hazarding a guess I think there's more ex-Bordeaux in this release - there's more berry and cherry notes than tropical fruit. The peat smoke notes are interesting, R-01 is definitely smokier on the nose; on the palate they are similar but R-02 has a little mineral content I didn't get on R-01, and it lingers as the liquid disappears long into the finish. Is this due to the higher proportion of peated casks in the make up or possible the longer maturation - I guess only the distillery know! For me R-02 is a great evolution over R-01 - more fruity, similar smoke and a lovely finish - still the best 3yo whisky I've tried. It's still available just go and buy a bottle!