Tomatin Cù Bòcan (46% Europe)

This official Cu Bocan release, bottled at 46%. Cù Bòcan is the smoky side of Tomatin, a peated malt named after a spectral hound of local legend. The distillery was founded in 1897 by a local company, taking its name from the village, Gaelic for hill of the juniper.

The spirit was run through the distillery's onion stills from peated barley, to build a smoky character on the fruity Tomatin spirit. A wine cask laid red fruit over the peat smoke. Without an age statement, it is smoky, fruity and soft. The long fermentation lays down the fruit beneath the smoke. 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. 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 an approachable 46% it is soft and balanced. Peat smoke, fruit and a sweet malt, and the Port cask adds plum and red berry. A baked apple and a wisp of smoke lift it. It finishes smoky, soft and warming. This is a smoky Highland malt with a fruity heart.