the original Cù Bòcan was released quite a few months ago and enjoyed quite a bit of success, with its peated profile and crispy youthfulness. This time around Tomatin released a vintage 1989 malt which was peated by accident back then in 1989. Tomatin vatted three of those casks [Casks 37470, 37471 and 37472 distilled on on 7th June 1989] to produce a limited edition of it’s peated whisky, but this time older and more mature. Let’s visit it, shall we?
Tomatin Cù Bòcan vintage 1989, 53.2% , £199
Nose: some lovely malt and citrus notes with soot and peat smoke. Stewed apple and candied ginger bits as well as a certain minerality too that develops into candied pineapple and vanilla with a few minutes rest in the glass.
palate: Very nice notes of grapefruit up front , hint of pineapple too. Fruity indeed with the light peat adding a nice dimension to it all. Quite subdued but not too faint. It then develops into spicy ginger with cloves and vanilla. A whiff of smoke too.
Finish: Earthy peaty smoke. Vanilla. Malt.
It’s really nice, and I like this one much more than the original NAS (which was not bad too). It’s lightly peated, and quite fruity too, and well balanced. Really a dram to sit with for a long time and enjoy and discover. Well done Tomatin, well done!
As for pricing, 200 quid is not cheap, but given this is bottled at Cask strength, and that it’s 25 year old or so, and current whisky prices, It’s pricy, but not totally over priced. Certainly one for the wish list if anyone wants to buy me a gift 😉
Bonus points for those looking for impressive looking whisky bottles (not me, but some do).
Score: 90/100
Cheers guys for the sample
Hi Gal,
Any idea what was in these three casks previously?
Mordechai,
I think those are ex-bourbon casks…