Tomatin 28 Years Old 1976 Exclusive Malts (Creative Whisky Company)

A Tomatin single malt, selected and bottled by Creative Whisky Company, a 28 year old release from 1976 and bottled at 51.1%. Tomatin is the soft, fruity Highland malt of a distillery founded in 1897 near Inverness. It was bought in 1986 by Takara Shuzo of Japan, the first Scotch distillery in Japanese hands.

Drawn off copper pot stills fed by the burn of the deer, for a soft, apple and pear scented spirit. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak for a honeyed sweetness. Very old Tomatin turns soft and profound, the fruit deep and the oak polished. The cool, high Highland climate gives a slow, even maturation. Tomatin stands at over three hundred metres, among the highest in the land. An old cattle drovers' road ran through Tomatin, and whisky was made here long before the distillery. The arrival of the Highland Railway in the 1890s made the distillery possible. It closed in 1906 and reopened in 1909, finding its feet over the following decades.

At cask strength 51.1% it is full bodied. A soft, fruity sweetness, and ex-Bourbon oak gives vanilla and a light apple. It is fruity and soft, the fruit and oak well matched. The finish is rounded, honeyed and gentle. This is a soft, approachable Highland malt.