Issue 161 | Whisky Magazine 51from stills on Raasay, an occasion that
was itself the culmination of years of
hard work by founder Alasdair Day;
his business partner Bill Dobbie, tech
entrepreneur and founder of online
dating platform Cupid; Iain Robertson,
distiller and graduate of Heriot-Watt
University’s brewing and distilling
course; and a small but dedicated team
of visitor centre staff led by Iain Hector
Ross, visitor centre manager.
Alasdair’s experience working at
the sharp end of the dairy industry has
ensured he’s no stranger to the idea of
flavour development and ageing, nor
intimidated by the immense complexity
of food science, health and safety, and
logistics. However, it was the desire
to pick up where his whisky-blendergreat-grandfather left off that led
to the launch of his first brand, The
Tweeddale. Though undoubtedly
possessing a natural flair for blending,
he had a hidden ace up his sleeve:
his great-grandfather’s cellar book
of whisky recipes. Drawing on this
knowledge that had been quietly passed
down the generations of his family,
Alasdair created his earliest blended
Scotch whiskies – all of which were very
well received. In fact, the Tweeddale 12
Years Old Batch 2 took the title of Best
Scotch Blended Whisky (12 Years and
Under) at the 2013 World Whiskies
Awards and subsequent expressions
have all scored between 8.6 and 9.0 in
this title’s blind tasting reviews. Notbad for a man with no prior industry
experience, who quit his job to pursue
a dream of starting a whisky company!
“I’m guessing most people would have
packed the whisky in and concentrated
on the comfortable job, nice company
car and all of those things,” says
Alasdair. “But I went the other way.”
Alasdair’s initial plan was to emulate
his ancestor’s business in Coldstream,
where the Victorian blender also had a
brewing business, and in time establish
a Borders Distillery. However, Bill
had learned, by way of an old friend
from school, Iain Hector Ross, that a
potentially suitable site on Raasay was
up for sale that would offer a uniqueWORDS CHRISTOPHER COATESREBORN
050-053-Raasay-WM161.indd 51 25/06/2019 11:40