Cù Bòcan 12 Year Old Caribbean Rum Cask

For one week a year, the Tomatin distillery distills a wash made from lightly peated barley and releases it under the Cu Bocan brand. Winner of GOLD at both San Francisco World Spirit Comp AND the World Whiskies Awards in 2024 – this is a scrumptiously peated offering from Cu Bocan. 

Make way Australia for the VERY LIMITED Cù Bòcan 12yo Caribbean Rum Cask – a whisky peated by name, but hardly by nature – from the Highland Tomatin Distillery. We’re stoked to introduce the very first batch of the Cù Bòcan Caribbean Rum Cask to the Aussie market.

Now, what do you do if you’re a Highland whisky brand who’s light and fruity whisky is ‘their brand’ but want to make some peated whisky without alienating their established customers? Well, one way to do it is to sell your peated whisky under an entirely different brand name – and this is exactly what Tomatin Distillery had done with Cù Bòcan. Starting in 2013, for one week every year in winter, Tomatin distils wash made from lightly peated barley and [eventually- once matured] sells this peated under the ‘Cù Bòcan’ brand name.

In between the distilling and the bottling – as we all know – is the maturation stage, and it’s here that Cù Bòcan really sets out on its own journey. Cù Bòcan is more than just Tomatin’s peated alter-ego. The name ” Cù Bòcan” translates to “Ghost Dog” in Gaelic, inspired by a local Highland legend of a spectral hound that has roamed the area for centuries. The brands motto is ‘Unlock the Unusual’ and it does so by maturing in a variety of casks interesting casks to unlock unusual flavours.

The Cù Bòcan 12yo Caribbean Rum Cask Batch #1 was made form lightly peated Scottish barely. Initially matured in ex-bourbon American oak casks, it was finished for 9 months in casks from un-named rum distilleries from Guyana and Barbados (so I’m thinking Diamond Distillery and Foursquare casks, perhaps?) and bottled at 46%abv. This is the very first batch of this delicious whisky and is exclusive in Australia to the Single Malt Whisky Club.

Now we love our ‘world whiskies’ here at the Single Malt Whisky Club, but it’s always nice to return to the birthplace of single malt whisky – especially when it’s a lesser-known brand with an interesting story. Of course, we’re even more interested in the whisky itself… so it’s nice when the planets align and we can get a lesser known Scottish whisky, well over a decade old, not to mention one with such a flavour profile that’s both familiar, and a little bit unusual – and definitely easy to dram!