It does not get better than this! A 15 year old, PEATED SHERRY BOMB! Exclusive to the Club in Australia with only 6000 bottles worldwide. This multi-award winning masterpiece of whisky is a must have for your drinking pleasure.
The Cù Bòcan 15 year old is a blend of ex-sherry casks of minimum age 15 year old. Bottled at a bounteous 50% abv and released worldwide in only 6000 bottles to the acclaim of multiple awards (Double Gold at San Francisco World Spirit Competition 2023 and 2024, Gold at World Whisky Awards 2023, Silver International Wine & Spirit Competition 2023). We are absolutely stoked to have the exclusive Australian allocation and we know it isn’t cheap but once we tasted this we knew we needed to offer it.
Cù Bòcan is the peated ‘side-project’ of Tomatin distillery. Whilst the Tomatin brand is unpeated nowadays, it was originally a peated whisky. Like most distilleries at the time, Tomatin malted their own barley using peat fire under the malting floor to dry the barley at the required time. Hence, their whisky was peated by necessity. In the 1960’s, the discovery of North Sea oil led to a lot of new roads being laid down in Scotland. A secondary effect of this ‘new’ road network was to cause many distilleries to turn away from ‘in-house’ malting of their barley, to the more cost effective practise of buying their malt from large ‘malting houses’. Tomatin was one such distillery, and on doing away with their own floor-maltings also moved to using un-peated barley exclusively.
But what is a ‘Sherry-bomb’ anyway? I mean I’ve used the term often enough. So I had a quick delve into the etymology of the term. Whilst there’s no actual rule or definition – most of the explanations point to a whisky aged solely in ex-sherry casks. Google AI (hence the spelling in the quote) sums up the many references to the term as:
The etymology of “sherry bomb” is descriptive rather than from a specific coining, referring to the potent, explosive flavor and color imparted by whiskey aged in 100% sherry-soaked casks. The term, more prevalent in American whiskey culture, likely originated in the early 21st century to distinguish these richly flavoured, full-bodied whiskeys from those with a mere sherry finish.
Now whilst I agree to most of the above, I disagree with the inclusion of colour in there, and this month’s whiskies are a superb example of why. The Cù Bòcan 15yo is the ‘classic’ sherry matured, deep burnt orangy-rusty-maroon-ambery colour. The Glen Elgin on the other hand has none of these colour descriptors in its colour profile – it’s pale-strawy at best! BUT… despite these colour differences, both these whiskies both are absolute KILOTONNE sherry bombs, a veritable couple of Sherry Csar Bombas even!
In 2005, Tomatin Master distiller Dougie Campbell decided to do a one-off lightly peated batch (ostensibly for use in blending, as the story goes) that fondly reminded him of the lightly peated ‘Tomatins of the past’. Dougie was so impressed with it; it was decided to do a peated run (the last spirit run of the year) every year before the stills were shut down and cleaned in the ‘off season’. A ‘week of peat’ if you will. These annual peated releases became so popular in their own right, Tomatin decided to ‘split’ their peated and non-peated whiskies into separate brands – and in 2013 Cù Bòcan was launched!
OUR TASTING NOTES
Nose: Glorious rich red fruits, Christmas cake, some sweet-jammy citrus with a pinch of earthy petrichor sprinkled in
Palate: Wow big luscious and oily in the mouth – an absolute bombardment of those delicious fruity cake notes with a touch of honey on the side, rich dried dates, prunes and more of those delicious cake spices
Finish: Long, chewy and thoroughly decadent with all those dripping fruity notes, a mild peppery ‘fruit tingle zing’ comes in later with a zing and lingers as coffee notes, hints of dark chocolate and a pleasant waft of leathery oak.
It’s simply such a brilliant example of a well-aged sherry matured whisky that few words are needed. It’s big, oily, complex, round and thoroughly mooorish. If you have a penchant for sherry matured whisky, you must have this. There’s no sugar coating it – at $169 it’s one of our most expensive ‘Malt of the Month’ offerings ever, but if you take a chance on this – you won’t regret it
The 3rd and final release of the Rolling Cask Kung Fu Series – A 14 year old, Limited Edition, Highland, full sherry bomb!
FROM CU BOCAN
Cù Bòcan 15 Year Old takes us back to where it all began, when we first started producing lightly peated spirit at Tomatin Distillery in the midst of winter. Matured fully in Oloroso Sherry casks for a minimum of 15 years, this is a decadent single malt with sun dried fruits and smoky exotic spices.
Tasting Notes :
Nose: Sultanas, marmalade, nutmeg, and the smoke from an autumn bonfire.
Palate: More dried fruit and flamed orange peel with caramel, coffee, and smoked BBQ rub.
Finish: Christmas cake and soft creosote.
ABOUT TOMATIN / CU BOCAN
Tomatin Distillery was established in 1897 in the Scottish Highlands, a region known for producing diverse whisky styles. In its early days, Tomatin was a relatively small operation, but it grew quickly in the 20th century. By the 1970s, it became one of the largest distilleries in Scotland, supplying malt whisky for blends.
However, following industry challenges in the 1980s, including a decline in demand for Scotch, Tomatin faced financial difficulties and became the first Scottish distillery to be taken over by a Japanese company, Takara Shuzo, in 1986. Despite this, Tomatin has continued to thrive, transitioning from a focus on blends to producing high-quality single malts, which have gained recognition globally.
The creation of Cù Bòcan in 2013 marked an innovative shift for Tomatin. While Tomatin is known for its unpeated Highland single malts, Cù Bòcan introduced a lightly peated whisky—a departure from their usual style. The brand takes its name from a ghostly hound said to roam the area around the distillery, and this sense of mystery complements the series’ experimental ethos, particularly in its creative cask maturation, using unusual casks like Japanese oak, Moroccan Cabernet Sauvignon, and North American Rye.
Tomatin’s approach to both its traditional and innovative whiskies reflect its adaptability and forward-thinking spirit. While the core Tomatin range offers classic Highland characteristics like fruity, malty flavours, the Cù Bòcan series pushes boundaries with a blend of smoke and unexpected cask influences. This combination of heritage and innovation has helped Tomatin regain its position as a respected producer of single malts, appealing to both whisky traditionalists and adventurous drinkers alike.
