Tomatin Warehouse 6 Collection 44 Years Old 1971

This Tomatin, an official release matured to 44 year old from 1971, drawn from cask 30041 and bottled at 45.8%. 252 bottles in all. Tomatin is a Highland single malt distilled in the hills south of Inverness, where the distillery was founded in 1897. Today it works twelve stills, having shifted from blend volume to single malt.

The spirit was run through the distillery's onion stills after a long fermentation, to build a fruity, gently spiced character. Maturation in a sherry cask laid dried fruit over the fruit. Decades leave it deep and gentle, candied fruit and a waxy honey with great age. The long fermentation lays down the fruit the cask then frames. 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. Special releases like Decades and Warehouse 6 have marked the distillery's milestones. Cold, clean water runs down to the distillery from the hills above.

At its natural 45.8% it is concentrated. Orchard fruit and a gentle malt, and the Oloroso gives dried fruit and a toasted nuttiness. Beneath it run apple, pear and a soft spice. It closes soft, fruity and warm. This is Tomatin, the fruity Highland malt.