Newer Distilleries : Isle of Harris

This is the latest in an occasional series about newer distilleries, this entry is about @harrisdistiller.

Isle of Harris have been distilling whisky since 2015 but only starting releasing it in Oct '23.
Location

The Isle of Harris Distillery is located here.

History

Build in 2015 the Isle of Harris distillery was conceived by Anderson Bakewell and started with a simple idea:

"Over the decades, our island has suffered from a long-term decline in population, our community's numbers having halved over the last fifty years. As young people leave our shores to seek their fortune, few are able to return to find work, set down roots and build a life in the place they called home. We believe that a distillery, built for not just years but for generations, can be a way to help stem this tide. In 2015, the distillery started life with just 10 people and an ambition to double in number over the next five years. 

Today, we're proud to say we employ over 50 permanent staff, a highly significant number in an island of fewer than 2000 inhabitants. As a catalyst for positive change within our community, we continue to work with purpose, bringing new life to our island and supporting its aspirations to survive and thrive as we move forward together."

Process

A 1.2 tonne, semi-lauter stainless steel mash tun...

Photo: Nigel Cole

is used to fill five 8,000 litre Oregon pine washbacks.

Photo: Nigel Cole

Distillation takes place in a pair of Italian made stills (7,000 litre wash and 5,000 litre spirit) each with Lyne arms which slope gently down from the tops of the stills.

Maturation

Ex-bourbon, Oloroso, Fino and other casks are used to mature the whisky in their warehouse.

Photo:  Lawrence Winram

Whisky

Isle of Harris have just released their first whisky, in fact there were 8 batches of The Hearach.

"The Hearach is the first, historic single malt whisky from our island distillery and the Isle of Harris. Like the iconic Harris Tweed cloth created here for generations, our first historic whisky is woven from the hands of island people and the place we call home, intimately intertwining to produce an elegant spirit of complexity and character. This special connection between people and place continues to this day with every drop of The Hearach created by Isle of Harris hands here in the Outer Hebrides. Our recipe uses spirit matured in ex-bourbon casks, oloroso and fino butts."

Every batch is made to the same recipe. However, there will be subtle, natural variations between each which reflect the casks chosen and the length of time each was ‘married’.

You can visit their website to get a fact sheet for each batch, or I've summarised them below!

Website
Link to the distillery website


Visit

The distillery Shop, Café and Tours are open six days a week, Monday to Saturday 10am until 5pm with regular tours from Monday to Friday.

 

Review of Batch 7 :

The Hearach was matured in a combination of 1st-fill Buffalo Trace casks (64%) + 1st-fill Heaven Hill casks (21%) + 1st-fill Oloroso butts (11%) + 1st-fill Fino butts (4%). It is bottled naturally with no added colouring, and is non-chill filtered at 46% ABV.

Distillery notes:

Tasting notes for each batch have been written by a local islander, for Batch 7 this was Marie Morrison: 

“On the nose I find there’s a caramel note, like when butter and sugar are melting in a pan when I’m making tablet. There’s a spicy, delicate white port aroma, and faint almonds like marzipan. There are flowers, like the wee purple flowers on a hill near my childhood home. When I taste it without water it’s silky smooth and just a very, very delicate smokiness, like the smell from the peat-burning Raeburn stove in my granny’s scullery. Adding a wee bit of water, and I get berries and meringue like an ‘Eton mess’ pudding. The fruits and spice reminds me of my mother’s auntie pouring a wee sherry and enjoying a slice of Christmas cake by the fire. There’s so much going on in my glass. it’s lovely.”

 

My thoughts:

Appearance: Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: peat smoke, more than I was expecting - it's not medicinal like Islay, dirty like Mull or heathery like Orkney's, it's more hearth fire with a little salinity. There's some orchard fruit notes stewed apples and pears, caramel sauce, marzipan and some fresh cut grass. Barley sugars adds some sweetness with some vanilla and hints of ginger spice to come.

Palate: smooth sweet arrival, a little thinner than I expected, immediately smoky and dry. The fruit has turned a little tropical with dried pineapple coated in icing sugar, kiwi and mango. Ginger spice bites at the tongue as the liquid disappears - it's also a little dry. A few more sips offer sweetness - the barley sugars from the nose, some dried fruit hints, a little salted caramel and a bite of sour citrus.

Finish: long and smoky with some citrus, ginger and dry icing sugar.

Overall: A nice dram, I wasn't expecting as much smoke but this is beautifully balanced with the fruit, sweetness and spice. Maybe a little thin on the palate - it's 46% NCF but I was expecting more. So is there much difference between the batches? My table above suggests not much - they all share most of the same attributes - a little more peat PPM on some and longer marrying periods. I guess unless you have all 8 side by side it would be a difficult to make a comparison. Really easy to drink but maybe need a few more years?