Tomatin 9 Years Old 2011 Cask #9413 (Whiskymax)

This Tomatin was from the independent bottler Whiskymax, aged 9 year old from 2011, drawn from cask 9413 and bottled at 54.5%. The outturn was 288 bottles. Tomatin is a Highland single malt distilled in the hills south of Inverness, where the distillery was founded in 1897. 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. It was matured in ex-Bourbon oak, lending vanilla and a soft honey. Younger here, it keeps a light, fruity freshness over soft honey. The long fermentation lays down the fruit the cask then frames. 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.

At its natural 54.5% it is concentrated. Orchard fruit and a gentle malt, and vanilla and a soft oak come from the bourbon wood. It is gentle and fruity, the soft spirit shining through. A fruity, lightly spiced finish lingers. This is Tomatin, the fruity Highland malt.