In our earlier article, we explored the manufacturing philosophy behind Tomatin’s signature “spirit in 3D”, a whisky outlined by cloudy wort, lengthy fermentations, and gradual distillation. However the journey from nonetheless to bottle is simply half the story. What occurs within the warehouse, the cooperage, and even the facility plant is simply as vital.
In accordance with blender and world model ambassador Scott Adamson, Tomatin’s evolution over the previous decade has been simply as a lot about mindset as methodology. From maturation and sustainability to id and scale, this Highland distillery is quietly refining what fashionable single malt could be.
Tomatin’s Wooden Coverage: Constructed on Information and Flexibility
“General, our spirit is extremely versatile,” says Adamson. “It permits us to mature in all kinds of casks.”
At Tomatin, maturation is at all times on the forefront. Each cask is inspected on web site on the distillery’s personal cooperage earlier than being crammed. This consideration to element has allowed them to kind direct relationships not solely with cooperages but in addition with wineries, breweries, and distilleries around the globe. All of their casks are then matured on web site in one in every of 13 warehouses, benefiting from the distillery’s altitude and naturally decrease evaporation charges.
“I believe this mild maturation is among the causes we will produce extremely vibrant aged whiskies,” he provides. “Tomatin, even in its 50s, is an explosion of tropical fruits that’s actually tough to seek out elsewhere.”
Tomatin’s cask philosophy balances management with creativity. For consistency throughout the core vary, the distillery depends on a rigorously managed seasoning programme. “We buy the overwhelming majority of our sherry casks from a cooperage based mostly in Montilla known as Toneleria Juan Pino,” says Adamson. “We choose the oak sort, cask dimension, sort of sherry, and seasoning size, and these are seasoned in Jerez.”
However not each cask is predictable. Sometimes, a name is available in with a suggestion: a bodega is promoting a part of its solera. “These alternatives are too good to show down,” he admits. “What we lose in management and consistency, we acquire within the alternative to create utterly distinctive merchandise.” These uncommon solera casks are reserved for restricted editions such because the Sherry Assortment.
Experimentation with a Sense of Steadiness
Tomatin’s maturation programme didn’t at all times have such scope. A lot of that shift started with Grasp Distiller Graham Eunson, who joined the staff in 2011 and recognised the untapped potential of the distillery’s spirit.
“Again then, the overwhelming majority of our inventory was in casks that had beforehand held bourbon or sherry,” says Adamson. “However Graham noticed how effectively our spirit may work in a a lot wider number of casks.”
Since then, the staff has experimented with port, rum, crimson wine, and past. These explorations are by no means pushed by novelty alone. “In some ways, a very powerful step in maturation is having an in-depth data of your new make spirit,” says Adamson. “An excellent Tomatin is a whisky that balances distillery character with maturation character.”
“When you overpower the spirit with cask affect, then the entire unimaginable work we’ve accomplished within the distillery is for nothing.”
Graham Eunson lately introduced his retirement from Tomatin, with Scott Adamson, Distillery Supervisor Jamie Muir, and HSQE Director Fiona Birkinshaw set to imagine his duties, and proceed producing revolutionary but tradition-based whiskies on the distillery.
There’s nothing new hitting the cabinets instantly, however Adamson did share a teaser: “I did draw a pattern from a parcel of Portuguese Crimson Wine casks a few weeks in the past that I’m very enthusiastic about.”
Sustainability by Design
Tomatin’s efforts towards sustainability should not simply surface-level.
“We turned the primary distillery to introduce a biomass boiler, in 2013,” says Adamson. That innovation eradicated the usage of extremely polluting heavy gas oil and now produces 80% of the location’s steam utilizing regionally grown wooden biomass. The remainder is supplied by an LPG boiler.
Water consumption has additionally been decreased by over 50% due to a newly put in weir system and precision temperature management valves launched in 2021. “These enable us to raised management the quantity of water we use to chill the distillate within the condensers.”
And it doesn’t cease there. Tomatin’s draff (leftover grain from mashing) is distributed to a neighborhood anaerobic digestion plant to assist manufacture inexperienced biogas. The distillery additionally helps biodiversity efforts within the Highlands and has shifted over 60% of its car fleet to electrical or hybrid.
Tomatin’s Smaller, Sharper Id
Tomatin was as soon as the most important malt distillery in Scotland, constructed to produce blends. However instances have modified.
“We completely respect our traditions, however it’s a distillery that has moved with the instances,” says Adamson. Again within the 60s and 70s, Tomatin’s spirit was produced rapidly and inconsistently. As we speak, it’s a unique story: cloudy wort, lengthy fermentation, and gradual distillation now outline the spirit model. That shift in manufacturing has been mirrored by a broader, extra considerate shift in id.
“All of the experimental releases during the last decade or so have been a results of us attempting to familiarize yourself with our id,” he displays. “I’d say we now know precisely who we’re and the place we wish to be.”
With its smaller scale, technical precision, and holistic strategy to whisky-making, Tomatin has grow to be one of the vital quietly assured distilleries in Scotland. There’s no rush to shout. The whisky does the speaking.
Closing Ideas
That is the ultimate instalment in our present collection with Scott Adamson, providing a uncommon look behind the scenes at one in every of Scotland’s most quietly revolutionary distilleries. From cask coverage to sustainability, Tomatin proves that significant progress in whisky doesn’t at all times include fanfare; it comes from intention, endurance, and a transparent sense of id.
Whether or not it’s a tropical 50-year-old, a solera-aged restricted launch, or a quietly evolving experimental cask, Tomatin is charting its personal path. One measured resolution at a time.
