Cù Bòcan, the experimental arm of Tomatin Distillery, released today Creation #8, the very first known peated whisky matured in ice wine casks, and the oldest release in Cù Bòcan’s limited Creations series to date.
This very unique release pairs two rare cask types, Canadian ice wine casks, sourced from the family-owned Niagara winery Pillitteri, with an 18-year-old peated spirit and brings apricot jam, candied peach and pineapple syrup. Spanish Verdejo casks from the French-owned Rueda estate Belondrade held a 16-year-old spirit and lend bold citrus, grassy and herbal notes. The Verdejo casks were filled just weeks after being emptied, designed to capture the wine at its most vivid.
Ice wine itself is a rarity, this sweet dessert wine pressed from grapes left to freeze on the vine and crushed at around –7°C yields only a trickle of intensely concentrated juice. The pairing seems symbolic, Cù Bòcan itself distilled in the coldest weeks of the year when low water temperatures speed condensation in the stills and give the new make a subtly oilier texture.
Creation #8 follows last November’s Creation #7, a Pineau des Charentes Rouge and American virgin oak release that marked twenty years of peated production at Tomatin. Across the series, the brand has reached for bourbon, sherry, Port, Cognac, Japanese Shochu, imperial stout and rum casks from Jamaica, Guyana and Barbados, but ice wine is a first.
Jamie Muir, Distillery Manager at Tomatin, said “Marking the oldest release in the series to date, Creation #8 is a pioneering single malt, marrying our gently peated spirit with the bold sweetness of Canadian ice wine casks, something we believe has never been done before with a peated Scotch. Equally, the Verdejo casks and the experimental decision to fill them shortly after emptying have introduced a vibrant citrus and herbal dimension.”
On the nose, the whisky shows baked apples, poached pears, apricot jam and orange blossom, threaded with a wisp of heather smoke. The palate is silky and sweet before turning fresher, with honeycomb, lime zest and green grape over earthy smoke. The finish fades into smoky honey, citrus peel and soft oak spice.
Even the bottle feels unique, housed in Cù Bòcan’s bespoke twisted bottle and a colourway of electric purple and neon green, its engraved contours echo both the wisp of Cù Bòcan’s signature smoke and the staves of the casks that shaped it
Peat has been part of Tomatin’s story since the distillery’s founding in 1897, though production shifted to an unpeated style mid-century. The peated run was revived in 2005 and has closed the distillery’s calendar every winter since. Cù Bòca, ‘ghost dog’ in Gaelic, named after a spirit said to haunt the village of Tomatin — launched as a brand in 2013.
Creation #8 is bottled at 46% ABV, natural in colour and non-chill filtered. It is available now via the Tomatin website, with 3,600 bottles released worldwide. It’s a great opportunity to add a truly unique whisky to your collection.
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