There is a whisky with an interesting name in Tomatin series, namely, Cù Bòcan – a dog from hell.

This Cù Bòcan was originated from a “village" tale. Once upon a time, there was a dog alike creature, or said a ghost, haunting at whereabouts the villages in which the present Tomatin distillery situated. It occasionally appeared to scare the villagers. Further, another tale, that a worker of a distillery encountered it. Meanwhile he was so frightening he somehow touched its fur. Oops! The Cù Bòcan was turning into a cloud of smoke and then vanishing.

The distillery catches the opportunity to offer a special bottling to tribute to such a “legendary" tale, that is, the whisky I now introduce, the Cù Bòcan。

The Cù Bòcan is a lightly peated single malt whisky. The phenol level is about 15 ppm. The present standard bottling is blended from the whiskies aged in virgin oak, Bourbon and Sherry casks respectively. It was firstly launched in October 2013 and the distillery only allocates a period of time every year to produce this Cù Bòcan.

In additions to the present standard Cù Bòcan, I have seen four special editions of Cù Bòcan, namely, Fino, Manzanilla, Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez cask finish. There is no longer any information about these four special editions available on the official website. However, the official website lists another three special bottlings of Cù Bòcan series. They are Virgin Oak Edition (6000 bottles released in February 2015), Sherry Edition(6000 bottles released in September 2014) and vintage 1989 Limited Edition (1080 bottles, bottled at ABV53.2%, blended from three Bourbon casks of number 37470, 37471 and 37472, all were distilled on 6/7/1989).

These special editions are just for information. I rather taste the one available and affordable.

Tomatin Cù Bòcan, 700 ml, 46%

Nose: BBQ honey, toast, condense milk, grass, slightly disinfectant
Palate: Charcoal, hot spices, coffee ground, salts, licorice gum
Aftertaste: Medium length, brunt wood, medicinal, salty, licorice alike herb
Comment: Interesting aroma, BBQ on the grass, toasting bread with spread of honey and condense milk, little bit disinfectant. Medium body, smoky and toasty, woody too, quite spices, slight salty. Medium length smoky wood aftertaste, with some herbs. Though it is bottled at ABV 46%, not too heavy as expected. Neither peaty did I expect, nor significant Island elements. However, the peat and smoke play a good role in seasoning this solid Tomatin. Don’t misunderstand it is an islander or a peat monster, just a lightly peat old favored whisky. A good whisky anyway, balance, adequate, rich, lovely.

Tomatin Cù Bòcan

Tomatin 有一款名字很有趣的酒，喚作地獄犬 Cù Bòcan。

這地獄犬 Cù Bòcan，其實是來自一則"鄉村"傳說。話說數百年來於 Tomatin 現址附近的村落，有一頭汪星人狀的生物，亦有說是鬼魂，久不久會出沒，嚇得村民們個心離一離。亦有附加傳說，有一天有一名酒廠工人碰倒這汪星鬼，被它嚇倒之餘不忘摸一摸它。哈! 一摸到它的毛皮後，汪星鬼便篷一聲化作輕煙消失了。

如此"鄉村"傳說，酒廠當然要開發一款酒來紀念，就是我現在要介紹的 Tomatin 地獄犬 Cù Bòcan。

這地獄犬 Cù Bòcan 是一款輕泥煤的單一麥芽威士忌，酚值約為 15 ppm，標準版本由陳年於 virgin oak, 波本 Bourbon 和 雪莉 Sherry 桶的原酒調合而成。這款酒於2013年十月首發，酒廠每年只會撥出一星期的時間生產這地獄犬。

除了現行的標準版本外，我在坊間見過四款雪莉特別版，分別是 Fino，Manzanilla，Oloroso 和 Pedro Ximenez finish。這四款 雪莉特別版在官網亦找不到資料了。官網上還有提供了另外三款特別版的資料，分別為 Virgin Oak Edition (2015年二月推出六千瓶), Sherry Edition(2014年九月推出六千瓶) 和 1989 Limited Edition ( 於6/7/1989 年蒸餾的波本單桶37470, 37471 and 37472 調合，ABV 53.2% 裝瓶，限量1080瓶)。

以上的特別版知道便算了，還是喝喝買得到和買得起的標準版吧。

Tomatin Cù Bòcan, 700 ml, 46%

氣味: 燒烤用蜜糖，多士，煉奶，青草，丁點消毒藥水
口味: 焦炭，帶辣香料，咖啡渣，微鹹，甘草糖
餘韻: 中等長度，烤木頭，西藥，帶鹹，甘草類藥草
評語: 有趣的氣味，草地上烘麵包塗蜜糖煉奶，輕輕一末的消毒藥水。中等酒體，煙燻和烘焙味道，亦有木質，頗有香料味道，帶點微鹹。中等長度，帶煙燻木材和香料的餘韻。這款酒雖則以 ABV 46% 較高酒精度裝瓶，但喝起來沒有預期中的重身，亦不是想像中的海島和泥煤風味。這高地地獄犬的輕泥煤，對增添風味豐富層次擔起重要角色，但可不要當作是海島泥煤威士忌來喝哦。豐富，平衡，適度，好酒。

Tomatin Cù Bòcan