Welcome back Ladies & Gentlemen. I had the pleasure of buying the Cù Bòcan Creation #6 and to taste it afterwards. I'm a long time fan of this brand and whisky, tasted many of their expressions. Today I will lift the mysterious fog on what Cù Bòcan is and then share some information and my tasting notes on the Creation #6. Strap in, it will be interesting.

The name, the whisky

"A celebration of the subtleties of smoke and perfectly balanced sweetness, Cù Bòcan is an experimental Highland Single Malt that explores innovative finishes to create whiskies full of intrigue and surprise."

Cù Bòcan comes from the very well known Tomatin distillery, that is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in the village of Tomatin. Its whisky is classified as being from the Highland region, as it is 25 minutes south of Inverness. 

Cù Bòcan is made with lightly peated Scottish barley. Distilled every winter in limited batches, always with different types of cask combination. It is so to say, an experimental spirit of Tomatin distillery. They had an old core range but the brand got revamped a few years ago. Since then they came out with 6 so called creations.

• Creation #1 in 2019 matured in Imperial stout & Moscatel wine casks
• Creation #2 in 2019 matured in Ex-Shochu & Virgin European oak casks
• Creation #3 in 2021 matured in Moroccan Cabernet Sauvignog & North American Rye casks
• Creation #4 in 2021 matured in Tawny port & Cognac casks
• Creation #5 in 2023 matured in Colombian oak
• Creation #6 in 2024 matured in Pedro Ximenez sherry & Jamaican Rum casks

Other than these creations they have two core range bottlings. The Cù Bòcan signature which is matured in a combination of Bourbon & Oloroso Sherry & Virgin Oak casks and the Cù Bòcan 12 years old which is matured in Caribbean Rum casks. They also have a limited edition 15 year old matured solely in Oloroso Sherry casks.

Cu Bocan or 'Ghost dog' in Gaelic was bottled to commemorate that the last Wolf in Scotland was killed near the Tomatin Distillery. 

Cù Bòcan Creation #6 - Natural Color, Non-chill filtered, 46%

"Creation #6 can be described in two words: RUM + RAISIN. Our sixth creation marries Pedro Ximénez casks and Jamaican rum casks with our smoky spirit resulting in flavours of toasted Jamaica ginger cake, Bonfire Toffee, spiced plum jam, Amaretto cherries and Daim bar."

As you might know, I like rum. My father's preferred drink is rum so I have the chance to taste a lot of great rums when we drink something together. We mainly like spanish stlye rums which are sweet and fruity. Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in oak casks. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced in nearly every major sugar-producing region of the world.

Jamaican rum as we know it began with the establishment of Appleton Estate in 1749, in a site that dates back to 1665 when Jamaica became a British colony after Spanish rule. The country soon became a hub of rum production to the point that more than 100 working distilleries had been founded by the late 19th century. The style is known to be heavier, owing to the fact that there are more pot stills in Jamaica than any other Caribbean island. Pot-still rums tend to be heavy and robust with big-flavours and plenty of Caribbean 'funk', distinguishing them from rums typically found in Spanish-speaking islands.

Pedro Ximenez is a Spanish fortified wine. One of the sweetest wine in the world, containing the most sugar in a liter. This cask leaves heavy influence on whiskies most of the time.

Nose: Very interesting nose. There is a sweet but not to sweet aroma right away. You can immediately smell the "Jamaican funk", some esthers. Ginger is very dominant here, burnt toffee, grilled banana and pineapple. Lots of tropical fruits. Raisins, dates and figs with a beautiful malty base. It's very fresh and inviting. Everything is wrapped in a light and pleasant bonfire smoke. This is a wonderfully complex and lovely nose.

Taste: Wow. It's deep and dark but also fresh and light. It's a beautiful harmony. On the palate firstly the PX influence can be tasted. Raisins, dates and figs. Dark cherries and liquorice with digestive biscuits. Plum jam with cardamom and cinnamon. Then tropical fruits such as grilled pineapple and bananas. A hint of ginger and toffee. Vanilla. Light earthy peat and maltiness. Lovely. It's a very complex and round whisky.

Finish: Very long and tasty. Sweetness and smokiness lingers for quite a while, you are not pushed to have a second sip immediately.

Overall I think this is an amazing whisky. But I have not yet had bad experience with any Cù Bòcan bottling. You should buy this whisky if you are a lover of rum and sherry. It captures the essence of both spirits extremely well and infuses this lovely smoky whisky with it. Definitely one of the better whiskies I had this years so far. Hoping to taste more Cù Bòcan bottlings in the future such as the 12 and 15 year old bottlings. I rate this whisky 90 / 100.

I have had a photoshoot of a few of my Bushmills bottles and created a reel of it on Instagram. Make sure to check it out HERE. Also check out my reel of all the whiskies I have reviewed so far HERE.

All the pictures you see in this article are TAKEN AND OWNED BY ME.

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Check out the points on all the whiskies I've rated and ranked head-to-head over HERE.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.