The Hearach Oloroso Cask Matured 46% Single Malt Scotch Whisky 70cl Batch 4

Note: Geraldo's initial allocation is all from Batch 4

Exactly one year after the release of their inaugural whisky, the Isle of Harris Distillery is delighted to introduce the second permanent expression within The Hearach single malt range, The Hearach Oloroso Cask Matured.

This new Oloroso expression is entirely matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry butts for a bold and deeply aromatic spirit that builds upon the complexity and drinkability that fans of The Hearach have come to expect while introducing the unique notes associated with sherry-matured whisky. The rich dram features notes of orange peel, warming spices, fireside smoke, and toasted hazelnuts that evoke a cosy winter evening – an antidote to the cooler nights as the evenings become longer and the autumnal chill sets in.

Distilled, matured, married and bottled on the Isle of Harris, The Hearach Oloroso Cask Matured is bottled at 46% ABV, no colour added, and non-chill filtered with the spirit lightly peated at 12-15ppm matured in casks hand-picked for quality from the respected Bodega José y Miguel Martín in the beautiful Andalusia region in southern Spain.

Tasting Notes

Harrison Wood, blender at the Isle of Harris Distillery, describes his tasting notes of The Hearach Oloroso Cask Matured as “Initial winter aromas of cinnamon, orange peel, and cloves which remind me of Christmas at home. There are green notes of herbs and the nostalgic creaminess of white chocolate from childhood days. When sipped, I can taste walnuts and fireside wood smoke. The dram develops with a hint of thyme from my kitchen, closely followed by dried oranges. Spices then come through, like vanilla pods and a subtle sense of cloves, before a long leather and liquorice finish."

Isle of Harris Distillery

"We couldn’t have done this without the support of Harris and the people of the whole island. The distillery can be a showcase for Harris around the world. It is a ground of hope here on the shores of East Loch Tarbert." - Anderson 'Burr' Bakewell, Founder of the Isle of Harris Distillery

The Isle of Harris Distillery began with a simple idea.

The inspiration came from Anderson 'Burr' Bakewell, who has felt bound to the Isle of Harris through a long connection with nearby Scarp, and many decades of life spent among the landscapes and people of Harris. He believed that this island's rare and elusive spirit could be captured in a bottle and shared with the world.

Over the decades, Burr, like many others, noted with sadness the long-term decline in the island's population, with the community's numbers having halved over the last fifty years. As young people left Harris' shores to seek their fortune, few were able to return to find work, set down roots and build a life in the place they called home. He believed that a distillery, built for not just years but for generations, could be a way to help stem this tide.

So, Burr gathered a group of like-minded individuals around him and set out on a seven-year journey to bring his ambitions to reality. September 24th 2015, saw his simple idea finally come to fruition as the doors to the Isle of Harris Distillery opened for the first time.

That day, the community gathered to light an inaugural fire in our distillery hearth. Three generations of Hearaich, the Gaelic word for the people of Harris, each placed a fàd, or block, of peat on the blaze to mark the occasion. They then threw the largest ceilidh the island had ever seen, with hundreds of islanders filling the cask warehouse for a night of music, dancing and song, as the first of the island spirit flowed.

The distillery started life with just 10 people and an ambition to double this number over the next five years. Today, they're proud to say employ almost 40 permanent staff, a highly significant number on an island of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.

In these early days of their history, it is clear that Burr's vision is already making a real difference on the Isle of Harris. As a catalyst for positive change within the community, the distillery team continue to work with purpose, bringing new life to the island and supporting its aspirations to survive and thrive, moving forward to meet the challenges of the 21st century.