Tomatin 11 Year Old - James MacArthur - Fine Malt Selection Miniature

Tomatin’s splendid Highland single malt whisky has long been an unsung hero, despite being at one point the largest distillery in Scotland, with a 1974 expansion taking the total number of stills to 23 before financial liquidation in the 1980s ushered in a long, stable era of Japanese ownership. Nowadays, Tomatin has cut back to 12 stills and has a capacity of around 5m litres per annum, although actual production is only around 2m litres. 

Tomatin has increased its profile recently, reaping the benefits of a strong wood policy, and awareness of the distillery’s quality is higher than ever thanks to some spectacular official and independent bottlings of 1970s vintages, the best of which show beautiful tropical fruit notes. The standard range is full of reliably high quality drams that punch above their price, and older bottlings of Tomatin are still very good value at auction.

James MacArthur & Co Ltd was an independent bottler of single malt and grain whiskies founded in 1982 by the Winning family. The company kept an exceptionally low profile but its James MacArthur’s Old Masters and James MacArthur’s Fine Malts ranges, while unprolific, were always outstanding drams. James MacArthur’s whiskies were released at cask strength or 45-46% and were always from traditional bourbon or sherry casks. 

James MacArthur’s simple, utilitarian labels were light on detail, often with just a distillery name and age statement rather than any distillation or bottling dates. The company’s most legendary whiskies are a pair of 12-year-old Port Ellens and half a dozen Caol Ilas bottled in the 1980s, all of which are of extraordinary quality and have subsequently fetched enormous prices at auction. Sadly, with the Winnings long past retirement age, James MacArthur & Co was dissolved early in 2022.