Tomatin 25 Years Old (43% Europe)

A distillery bottling of Tomatin, aged 25 year old from 1966 and bottled at 43%. The outturn was 1200 bottles. Tomatin is a Highland single malt distilled in the hills south of Inverness, where the distillery was founded in 1897. By 1974 Tomatin ran twenty three stills and was the largest malt distillery in Scotland.

It was made in copper stills from unpeated barley, for a fruity, mellow make. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak for a honeyed sweetness. At this age it is rounded and mellow, the fruit folded into a honeyed body. Dunnage and racked warehousing on site gives a steady maturation. 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.

At 43% it is gentle, fruity and mellow. Pear, honey and a malty note, and the ex-Bourbon lends vanilla and a soft honey. A dried fruit and a soft oak give it depth. Apple, honey and a soft oak see out the finish. This is a mellow Highland single malt from near Inverness.