Tomatin

Translation: juniper mound
Region: Highlands

Eels are out.

At the beginning of the 1980s, Tomatin had an innovative idea that was supposed to combine ecology and economy. An eel rearing farm was built right next to the distillery. The was operated with the heated cooling water, which remains in the Whiskey production in large quantities as a waste product. The animals also felt very well in the warm water and grew twice as fast as in the wild. Nevertheless, the experiment was short lived. Tomatin went bankrupt in 1985, the eel farm was closed and - unlike the distillery - not reopened. What a pity.

A little history

The origins of Tomatin date back to the 15th century. At the "Old Laird's House" on the site of today's distillery whiskey for the cattle dealers and drovers of the area is said to have already been burned. Tomatin was officially founded in 1897.
The distillery went bankrupt in 1906, but was reopened three years later.
Until 1956 Tomatin was one of the smaller distilleries with two stills. In the wake of the great demand for Scottish blended whiskeys, two new stills were added, and in 1958 two more, four stills and one more in 1964 were added.
In 1974, they built three more Bennblasen, but put his own malting still. Since then, malt has been sourced from the Glen Ord Maltings in the north, just like many other distilleries.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Tomatin was the largest Scottish distillery with an annual output of 12 million liters of alcohol.
In 1985, Tomatin went bankrupt again and was taken over in 1986 by two longtime business partners: Takara Shuzo Co. and Okara & Co., becoming the first Japanese owners of a Scotch whiskey distillery.
The new owners expanded their capacity to 23 stills - of which only 12 have been actively used for a long time. With a capacity of 5 million liters, Tomatin is still one of the largest distilleries in Scotland.

Most of the production is not bottled as single malt, but used for blended whiskeys, including the internationally very successful "The Antiquary" and "Talisman".

What do I actually have in the glass?

The tomato is a very fine malt, with beautiful vanilla notes and only gently patted.

3 reasons to love Tomatin

1) Because the Malt has earned much more attention.
2) Because the idea with the eels was somehow charming.
3) Because the name sounds so healthy ...

The one drama for the lonely island

The 18-year-old is a dream and not for nothing has been awarded as the best Highland Single Malt of his age group at the World Whiskey Awards 2014.

numbers and facts

Address: Tomatin, Inverness-shire IV13 7YT
Founded: 1897 by the Tomatin Spey District Distillery Co.Ltd.
Status: active
Owner: Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd. (Marubeni Corporation)
Capacity: about 5,000,000 liters
6 wash stills (16,000 l)
6 spirit stills (16,000 l)
Water: Allt na Frithe Burn
Visitor Center: Yes
Telephone: +44 (0) 1463 248144
Website: www.tomatin.com