The Hearach First Release -Batch 5- (2023) [Official bottling] Bottled 2023 - Heaven Hill, Buffalo Trace, Oloroso & Fino Sherry Casks - 46.0% abv. - 12326 btl.

The Hearach is een whisky afkomstig van het eiland Harris: Isle of Harris. Elke druppel Hearach single malt whisky wordt gedistilleerd, gerijpt, geblend en gebotteld op het eiland Harris (Schotland). De rijping van deze batch 5 vindt plaats in zowel Ex-Bourbonvaten als in Oloroso- en Fino Sherryvaten.

Bij elke batch worden er ongeveer 12.000 flessen gebotteld waarbij de jongste whisky minimaal 5 jaar oud is. Herken lichte turfsmaken met aroma's van tabak en een boterachtige afdronk.

Isle of Harris distillery started in 2015. They claim they’re the first commercial distillery on the island, although you could argue Abhainn Dearg is technically on the same stretch of land. The plan was to create a locally rooted distillery which could become a long-term employment solution for Harris residents. They now employ over 50 people (that’s 2.5% of the popoulation of the island).

A first NAS expression was originally expected around 2020 but things turned out differently, focusing on kelp-infused gin in the meantime. In September 2023 they presented The Hearach, a single malt that is released in batches of around 13,000 bottles. Hearach means the native.

It is a lightly peated single malt (12-14 ppm) from a combination of first-fill bourbon casks with Oloroso and Fino casks. Eight batches were released at the same time.

The bottle packaging is really nice, with a unique folding structure. It’s not a box per se, more like an open cardboard container. Beautifully executed, although I should add that it tends to open unintentionally (with the bottle sliding out) if you don’t pick it up the correct way. A risky choice.