What Makes Cù Bòcan Standout As A Highland Style?
Rum cask maturation in highland whisky isn’t a common thing, sherry and bourbon certainly dominate the field. But Cù Bòcan has the ability to be very good at a lot of different things, all at the same time.
The Highlands as a region is huge! It has far too much variation to nail down into a particular set of flavors. But Tomatin has given you all of those flavors here. We have the light, fruity flavors that can be gained from so many highland whiskies such as Dalwhinnie, Glengoyne, and Loch Lomond. We have the peated influence here which can divide crowds, but as someone looking for something new, or introductory, this is an ideal level for you. This peat is highland peat, and overall it is less intense than its Islay counterpart. We have sweeter peat notes of cured meats, and BBQ rather than those more intense and sometimes medicinal West Coast notes.
On top of all of that, we have this additional sweet hit of rum cask influences. This will tame down the peat a little more, and give you contrasting notes of brown sugar, banana, and other lovely sweet things to round this whisky out as a beautiful all-rounder.
How Does Cu Bocan Compare To Other Rum Cask Single Malts?
When you think of rum-influenced single casks, there really aren’t a million options that come flooding into your mind. The most famous would be a Speyside whisky from The Balvenie. Their 14 Year Old Caribbean Cask is a very famous example of rum influences on single malt. It is sweet, rich, and very easy to drink.
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This Cù Bòcan offering has all of that going on, but with the addition of some peat, it offers an additional dimension of flavor profile. Other big brands like Jura and The Glenlivet have produced offerings matured in rum, and again, the are light, sweet, very approachable styles that won’t trouble any degree of whisky drinker. You also have smaller distilleries like Ardnamurchan producing a regular rum cask release, but this is at a much more powerful alcohol percentage of 50%, with some peated stocks mixed in.
This style has the richness of rum but is additionally fuelled by some West Coast power. So with all of this, Cù Bòcan does stand on its own as something rather unique and quite special in the whisky world.
Is Cu Bocan A Good Introduction To Peated Whisky?
if you’ve yet to try a peated whisky and enjoy some fun cask influences then this is definitely for you! It has a trio of flavor points from being a highland whisky. Tomatin’s natural fruitiness to the spirit that gives you green apples and soft fruits. The peated addition of that spirit gives more depth to the overall flavor. Then we have that sweet, sun-drenched rum cask just amplifying the natural spirit, the smokiness, and giving its own dedicated profile, too.
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