A Ghost Dog and 60,000 Litres of Lightly Peated Spirit
Tomatin's Cù Bòcan is one of the more unusual single malts in the Highlands, and a new release has put it back in the spotlight. Creation #9 is the oldest Cù Bòcan Creation to date, at 17 years old, matured in American virgin oak and Manzanilla sherry casks. It is priced at £45 and limited to 3,800 bottles worldwide. The Luxe Review ran a feature on the brand's story on October 24, 2026, under a headline that describes a "Cù Bòcan Experimental Whisky Experience." The article itself is about the whisky and its history and does not describe a visitor experience, so this piece sticks to what the article actually covers.
Where the Name Comes From
"Cù" means dog in Gaelic, and "bòcan" can mean goblin or ghoul. The "ghost dog" in the name refers to a spirit said to haunt the distillery's hometown. It is a rare case of a Highland malt built around folklore, and the label leans into the story.
An Accident of Peat
Tomatin is better known for unpeated whisky, and Cù Bòcan exists because of one final week of peated production. The 2005 spirit came from Tomatin's last peated run, using peated Optic barley to make about 60,000 litres of lightly peated spirit at around 15 ppm phenols. That is a small level of smoke next to the heavily peated malts of Islay, which often run well over 30 ppm. The spirit was filled into various cask types and left to mature. It became a standalone single malt in 2013, initially matured in bourbon, sherry and virgin oak casks.
Tomatin describes Cù Bòcan as an experimental Highland single malt made with lightly peated barley and distilled each winter in limited batches. Other sources describe the production as lasting a week or a month each year at the distillery, and accounts differ on the exact period.
What 15 ppm Tastes Like
Phenol levels in barley are measured in parts per million, and the number describes the peat smoke in the malt before distillation, not in the final spirit. At around 15 ppm, the smoke tends to appear as a light, ashy or herbal background and not as a dominant medicinal note. That fits reviewers' descriptions of the standard Cù Bòcan as a gently smoky Highland whisky. Drinkhacker gave an early bottling an A- and called it representative of the lightly smoky Highland style, while WhiskyRant found it too light at 75 points, so opinions vary widely depending on what the reviewer wanted from it.
The Creation Series
The Creation series is where Tomatin experiments. According to The Luxe Review, it has explored an unusually broad range of casks, including Moscatel, stout, sochu wine, Moroccan rye, Colombian Andean oak, Jamaican rum, Pinot de France and Canadian ice wine. The article's judgment of the series: "The Creation series has explored an unusually broad range of casks." Each edition changes the cask recipe, which makes every Creation a different whisky. For collectors, the numbering gives a way to follow the project over time.
Creation #9
The new edition is the oldest yet. It matured in American virgin oak and Manzanilla sherry casks. Manzanilla is a pale, dry style of sherry from the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, and the article says it tempers the sweetness and spice and adds a savory dimension. The release draws inspiration from sweet and salty popcorn. The article's line on the result: "You might say the result is almost supernatural."
At £45 for a 17-year-old, the price is notable. Single malts of that age from the Highlands often sell for far more. The limited run of 3,800 bottles worldwide means the whisky will be hard to find, and the low price relative to the age is likely to attract collectors.
A Tour of Earlier Creations
The Creation series has been running since 2013, when Cù Bòcan was launched as a brand, and each edition changes the cask recipe. Tomatin has documented several of them, and together they show how far the experiments have gone.
Shochu, Port and Cognac
Creation #2, released in 2019, was described by Tomatin as the first use of Japanese shochu casks to mature a single malt. Creation #3 was matured in Moroccan Cabernet Sauvignon and North American rye casks. Creation #4 married Tawny Port and Cognac casks, a nod to The Antrim Cocktail, which combines two of Europe's most revered drinks. Each used a different corner of the wine and spirits world as a source of oak.
Andean Oak and a Peated Anniversary
Creation #5 is believed to be the first single malt Scotch matured in Colombian Andean oak casks. It was distilled in December 2011, initially matured in refill American oak hogsheads, and filled into the Andean oak casks in June 2021. Creation #7 was released to mark twenty years of peated production at Tomatin, matured in a combination of Pineau des Charentes Rouge and American virgin oak, with only about 3,000 bottles made. Scott Adamson, the blender and global brand ambassador, described it as "more than a whisky but an invitation to explore," and called it the most limited Creation to that point.
Ice Wine in 2026
Creation #8, released earlier in 2026, was billed as the first peated Scotch matured in ice wine casks. It combined Canadian ice wine casks from Pillitteri Estates Winery with Spanish Verdejo white wine casks, was bottled at 46% ABV, and was limited to 3,600 bottles at £45. Creation #9 keeps the same £45 price and a similar run of 3,800 bottles, but changes direction, with a much older spirit and a sherry and virgin oak recipe.
The sources I found cover Creations #2 through #5, #7 and #8. I did not find details on #1 or #6, so the series history here is incomplete.
Two Accounts of the Peat
Sources differ on how the peated spirit behind Cù Bòcan came about. The Luxe Review describes the 2005 spirit as coming from Tomatin's final peated production week. Tomatin's own material says the Creations are built on lightly peated spirit distilled each winter in limited batches, and Creation #7 was released to mark twenty years of peated production at the distillery. Tomatin describes the series as inspired by the lightly peated spirit historically produced there over 100 years ago, when local peat was part of the fuel. The two accounts may refer to different stages of the same history, and the sources do not reconcile them.
What is consistent is the result: a small, lightly smoky stream of Highland spirit that Tomatin can mature in unusual casks. When a Creation is as old as 17 years, as Creation #9 is, the spirit was distilled long ago, so its character reflects what the distillery was making then.
The Distillery Behind It
Tomatin was founded in 1897, near Inverness. It once relied on local peat and later shifted to unpeated whisky. By 1975 it had 23 stills and annual output near 13 million litres, much of it destined for blended Scotch. The distillery went into receivership in the 1980s and was acquired in 1986 by Kyoto-based Takara Shuzo, a company known for sake and shochu. It now has 12 warehouses with capacity for about 200,000 casks, about 165,000 of which are currently stored. Its portfolio includes Tomatin Highland single malt, Cù Bòcan, The Antiquary, Talisman and Big T. Scott Adamson, Master Blender and Global Brand Ambassador, works with the team on cask selection and sample blending.
Whiskeypulse covered one of its sister brands, The Antiquary, when it unveiled a trio of whiskies in 2024.
Visiting
For those who want the experience the headline implies, Tomatin runs distillery tours, and tastings are included on all of them. One listing describes a Taste of Tomatin tour as a £50, two-hour experience with a distillery tour and a guided tasting of four Tomatin expressions and one Cù Bòcan whisky. A Single Cask Experience, priced at £70 for around two and a half hours, lets visitors fill their own bottle of a cask strength distillery exclusive. These details come from older listings, so check Tomatin's site for current prices and booking.
Should You Try It?
Cù Bòcan has divided reviewers: some score it highly for its sherry-driven character, and others find it too light for the price. The Cù Bòcan 15 earned 8.5 out of 10 at Road to Dram and 7 out of 10 at Dramface, whose reviewer argued that summing up the brand as "peated Tomatin" cuts a few essential corners. Creation #9 is the oldest and one of the cheapest ways to taste an aged Highland malt with a bit of smoke and a bit of adventure. If you like experimental cask finishes, it is worth the search.
