Cù Bòcan Sherry Edition – 46%

Info: Fully matured in first fill Sherry butts. 6000 bottles. Non chill filtered, 15PPM. The first of three limited editions, the other two releases will be Virgin Oak and Bourbon casks.

Colour: Beautiful bright gold. Thick legs on the glass.

Nose: That Tomatin character is here, but it’s got light smoky puffs to it backed up by rich fruity tones with some spices and nuts thrown in.

Palate: The palate washes between spices and then on to oak, then smoke, peat, fruit and malt, all intermingling and going back and fourth. The peat is a touch more obvious here than on the nose which was more smoke. The mouthfeel is fairly full and oily and the sherry influence seems to compliment the whisky with sweet autumn fruits rather than dominate.

Finish: The finish brings forward the malt to the front which then backs off revealing the fruit, the smoke, and a fairly young tasting oakiness, a little sappy, the spices have gone to the background and there’s a slightly dry finish. There’s a little saltiness on the finish which makes me wonder if the sherry casks were predominantly manzanilla sherry. Gently warming.

Water: None really needed, but a drop increases the nuts from the sherry on the nose, and reduces the small spices on the palate to make it even more easy going, not altogether a bad thing.

Thoughts: People sometimes seem to like or dislike sherried peat whiskies. I love them, if done right it can work perfectly. The combination here is one that’s done right, its good fun, it’s not over the top and it’s tasty! It’s possibly a wee bit young, but that doesn’t seem to matter (it keeps the malt and distillery character more in tact), although an age statement may not go amiss when spending £50 (not a pop at Tomatin there, most of the industry is going that way).

Available: The Green Welly Stop – £49

Comments etc? Come find me on Twitter @steveprentice

Thanks to Tomatin for the sample.