Buy rare and selected Tomatin Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky online
The Tomatin distillery was officially founded in 1897 near the village of Tomatin in the Scottish Highlands south of Inverness. The location is over 300 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest distilleries in Scotland. The name Tomatin is derived from the Gaelic Tom naithin, which means hill of the juniper bush. The history of the distillery dates back to the 15th century, when cattle traders and drovers obtained their whisky from a distillery in the Old Lairds House on the site of the current distillery. In 1897, the distillery was officially legalized. It went bankrupt in 1906, but was reopened in 1909. Until 1956, it was one of the smaller distilleries with two stills. Two stills were added at that time. Two more were added in 1958. Another four stills were added in 1961 and a further one in 1964. This made Tomatin the only Scotch whisky distillery with an odd number of stills, at least for a short time. In 1974, three more stills were added and the company s own maltings were shut down; since then, the malt has been sourced from Glen Ord maltings. In the 1970s, with 23 stills and an annual output of 12 million liters of alcohol, it was the largest malt whisky distillery in Scotland, producing mainly blended whiskies.
Tomatin was insolvent again in 1985 and was taken over by the Japanese investors Takara Shuzo Co. and Okara Co. in 1986, who installed a further nine stills. Takara Shuzo Co. and Okara and Co. thus became the first Japanese owners of a Scotch whisky distillery. This made Tomatin the first Scotch whisky distillery to be wholly Japanese-owned - a remarkable move at the time.
Since 1998, it has operated under the name Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd. In terms of output, it was at times one of the top ten distilleries in Scotland, but some stills were shut down and today only a fraction of what would actually be possible is produced. Under the new management, the focus has shifted more strongly from pure production for blends to the development and marketing of Tomatin s own single malt whiskies. Although some of the production still goes into blends (e.g. The Antiquary, The Talisman, Big T and Ancient Clan), the Tomatin brand has become considerably more important as a single malt.
Tomatin whiskies are generally known for their soft, mild and accessible character. They are typically not or only very slightly smoky (unpeated), which allows the malty and fruity notes to come to the fore. There are often notes of bright fruits such as apples, pears and citrus fruits. In older bottlings, tropical fruits can also be added. When matured in ex-bourbon casks, there is a pleasant sweetness with honey, vanilla and caramel, and a pleasant cereal note is often present. Depending on the cask maturation and age, gentle spicy notes (e.g. oak, cinnamon, ginger) may also appear. Tomatin s core range is predominantly matured in ex-bourbon casks, which supports the light and sweet character. For special bottlings or finishes, sherry, port and other wine casks are also used to add complexity, fruitiness (dried fruit) and spice. There are numerous old bottlings and sought-after Tomatin single cask whiskies from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s from independent bottlers such as Duncan Taylor, Cadenhead, Douglas Laing and others, which exhibit excellent quality and the special character of the fine Highland single malt with an excellent price-performance ratio.
