Tomatin Cù Bòchan 1989 Limited Edition

Tomatin Cù Bòchan 1989 Limited Edition, 24 YO, 53,2 %

Tomatin Cù Bòchan 1989 Limited Edition

It seems we bump into more and more mainland distilleries in Scotland selling peated whisky these days. If we go back far enough in time, most of the distilleries (if not all) made peated whisky, but those days are long gone. Peated whisky seems to be in 'fashion' these days, so I guess that is the reason.

Personally I am quite partial to peated whiskies (but I do love unpeated whiskies as well!), so I don't mind this trend one bit. With this in mind we were happy to try the new Tomatin Cù Bòchan 1989 Limited Edition. This is a bourbon cask matured whisky, from three casks (cask# 37470-37472). The total outturn for this limited edition is 1080 bottles - which actually makes it quite limited. The whisky was distilled on 1989-06-07, and it was bottled earlier this year (2014).

Tomatin is obviously planning to build their Cù Bòchan peated brand, as they have three expressions out now, and a dedicated website for the brand.

You can buy this whisky in Norway at NOK 1825 (item number 1696801). Surprisingly this whisky is not (yet?) available to buy in Sweden.

Nose (24/25): Sweet barbecue sauce, lots of it, and hickory smoked, honey glazed pork. This whisky will make you hunger for grilled meat. I want my barbecue now! I also detect fruits, vanilla and some caramel, but it is the sweet BBQ pork that lingers...

Taste (22/25): Creamy, peaty, fruity and rich. Lots of honey and other lovely sweets. No pork, however. A bit disappointed about that. I have a craving for pork, right now.

Finish (22/25): Peaty sweetness, ashes, ginger, white pepper and fruits. It lingers and it warms, glowing embers from the grill...

Balance (22/25): A really, really good peated Highlander. Who said they only know peated whisky on Islay? Hmm, maybe no one. But if someone did say that, make sure to serve them a dram of this juice.

Score (90/100)

Image from Tomatin Distillery.

Sláinte!
- Thomas