Tomatin Cuatro Series – Oloroso Sherry 12 Years Old 2002

This Tomatin, an official release, a 12 year old from 2002 and bottled at 46%. Just 1500 bottles were filled. Set in the Highland hills south of Inverness, Tomatin has made single malt since 1897. Today it works twelve stills, having shifted from blend volume to single malt.

The spirit was run through the distillery's onion stills after a long fermentation, to build a fruity, gently spiced character. Maturation in a sherry cask laid dried fruit over the fruit. Around the mid teens the malt gains a fuller honey and ripe fruit. The long fermentation lays down the fruit the cask then frames. Under Japanese stewardship the focus turned from sheer volume to quality. The very long fermentation is central to the distillery's fruity character. The distillery sits beside the A9, the old road north to Inverness. Cu Bocan focuses on unusual cask finishes, from sherry to wine and beyond. Tomatin stands at over three hundred metres, among the highest in the land.

At 46% it is supple and fruity. Orchard fruit and a gentle malt, and the Oloroso lends raisin, walnut and a dried fruit richness. Beneath it run apple, pear and a soft spice. It closes soft, fruity and warm. This is Tomatin, the fruity Highland malt.