Tomatin 21 Years Old

This Tomatin, an official release matured to 21 year old and bottled at 46%. Tomatin is the soft, fruity Highland malt of a distillery founded in 1897 near Inverness. Tomatin malt long fed blends such as The Antiquary and The Talisman.

It was run through the distillery's onion stills after a long fermentation, to build a fruity, gently spiced character. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla beneath the orchard fruit. Long ageing brings a deeper dried fruit character and a soft oak spice. The long fermentation lays down the fruit the cask then frames. 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. The Antiquary blend came into the group through the blender J and W Hardie. Malt is bought in, the distillery's own floor maltings having closed in the 1980s.

At 46% it is smooth and fruity. Orchard fruit and a gentle malt, and vanilla and a soft oak come from the bourbon wood. Beneath it run apple, pear and a soft spice. It closes soft, fruity and warm. This is Tomatin, the fruity Highland malt.