Tomatin Cu Bocan

During the last week of each year Tomatin used peated malt in their production run. So this is quite exceptional and yields some 60.000 liters per year. This is later bottled as Cù Bocàn, named after the spectral hellhound that stalked the villagers of Tomatin for centuries. I do not know if this legend is still very much alive, but the Cù Bocàn is, having matured in a combination of virgin oak, sherry and bourbon casks. It is bottled at 46%. The nose is very citrusy with all kinds of agrums and herbal, floral notes. Loads of ginger and wood, revealing a rather young age. Hay and a hint of smoke. On the palate, the smoke becomes quite nice and outspoken, but the typical fruitiness of Tomatin is absent. Instead I get grain cookies and nuts, a bit of honey and loads of spices. Pepper and nutmeg, ginger and a hint of anise. I think there was quite a bit of virgin oak involved. I’m not sure where this whisky is headed… In the finish too – which is fairly long – I get nothing but smoke and ginger. A young and rather sharp mail. The story is better than the contents. Just under 40 EUR.

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