Tomatin Cù Bòcan

This Cu Bocan single malt, bottled at 46%. Made at Tomatin in the Highland hills, Cù Bòcan is the distillery's peated single malt. Tomatin malt long fed blends such as The Antiquary and The Talisman.

It was worked through onion stills from peated malt, for the smoky Cu Bocan make over a fruity base. A sherry butt held it, sherry and smoke twining together. With no age statement, it shows a soft peat smoke over fruity Tomatin spirit. Refill oak lets the peat and fruit of Cu Bocan lead. 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. For most of its life the distillery rarely ran to its full capacity. The make is light and fruity, easy to like and easy to drink.

At 46% it is smooth and fruity. A smoky, fruity sweetness, and the Moscatel brings grape, honey and a floral lift. Soft smoke and orchard fruit sit behind the cask. The close is warm, smoke over a soft fruit. This is a soft, smoky Highland single malt.