Tomatin Legacy (43%)

A distillery bottling of Tomatin, bottled at 43%. Tomatin is a Highland single malt distilled in the hills south of Inverness, where the distillery was founded in 1897. The core is unpeated, with peated spirit made one week a year and bottled as Cu Bocan.

The spirit was distilled from unpeated malt in copper stills on Allt na Frithe water, giving the light, mellow spirit at its heart. A refill bourbon cask held it, keeping the fruit to the fore. No age is given, but the soft fruit marks it as Tomatin. Years in oak round the spirit, the orchard fruit deepening with age. The distillery sits beside the A9, the old road north to Inverness. 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.

At 43% it is smooth and fruity. Apple, pear and a soft honey, and the bourbon cask adds vanilla and a gentle sweetness. It is fruity and soft, the fruit and oak well matched. The finish is rounded, honeyed and gentle. This is a soft, approachable Highland malt.