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New In: The Hearach New Batch
Back in September 2023, The Hearach was met by much buzz and hurrah by the whisky industry and whisky lovers alike. It was released in eight batches, numbered from 1-8. Now, six months on, batches 9-12 have landed!
Made by the close-knit community of Harris, every drop is distilled, matured, married and bottled on the island with little automation, by island hands. The distillers and blenders of Harris have been trained from scratch in the craft of whisky making, and are one of the youngest teams of distillers in Scotland, with an average age of 25.
The Hearach has been made using 100% Scottish Concerto barley, with long fermentations (between 70 and 120 hours), hands-on distillation in bespoke copper stills and maturation in hand-picked oak casks. The batches are matured for at least five years, in a combination of first-fill bourbon, Oloroso sherry and Fino butts - the majority of which are sourced from the revered Buffalo Trace distillery.
The island's first legal whisky, the final gift Harris has imparted on the single malt is from the weather conditions in which it is aged. Despite the islands northerly latitude, their oceanic climate benefits from the currents of the Gulf Stream. This system keeps seasonal temperatures remarkably stable, benefitting the overall maturation process.
Isle of Harris invites drinkers to explore the scents and sensory experience of The Hearach single malt from a personal point of view, as this new Harris whisky will be perceived differently by different people. Discover fruity, floral and sweet-spicy notes with gentle peat smoke.
Read Brian Wilson's Whiskeria article on The Hearach and distilling in the Outer Hebrides: A Long Time Coming, here.
