Tomatin Distillery is not any stranger to awards. In 2022, the distillery was named Scotch Whisky Producer of the Year and Outstanding Spirits Producer of the Year on the International Wine & Spirit Competition.
Its whiskies have additionally received quite a few particular person awards over time, the newest being the Tomatin 36 Year Old, which received the “Best Of Show” within the whisky class on the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) 2023 within the United States.
But one accolade that the distillery is very pleased with is being named Sustainable Distillery of the Year at Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky Awards 2023.
“It’s always amazing when individual whiskies win an award, because that shows the quality of the liquid. But it’s also important for the work that you do as a company and your kind of ethos to be recognised, which is really fulfilling for the staff to hear,” mentioned Scott Adamson, international model ambassador and likewise one of many blenders at Tomatin, throughout a latest interview in Kuala Lumpur.
There’s a connection between Tomatin and other people that you simply don’t see different distilleries.
Sustainability has been a significant concern for the Scotch business in latest instances, with the whole business transferring in the direction of a collective purpose of changing into increasingly environmentally pleasant by way of processes, packaging and different features of creating whisky.
Tomatin Distillery is a kind of distilleries which have taken an enormous step in the direction of that purpose.
In 2014, Tomatin grew to become the primary distillery in Scotland to introduce a biomass boiler (traditionally, the gasoline used to warmth up the stills, mash tun and so forth tends to be oil and coal), which now contributes 80% of the distillery’s whole vitality manufacturing.
“In 2014, the biggest impact was the carbon footprint, and we were able to address that with the biomass boiler,” Adamson mentioned, including that over the previous few years, their focus has turned to the water they use to supply their whiskies.
An aerial view of Tomatin Distillery, with the river alongside it. Adamson says over the previous years, the main target has turned to the water they use to supply their whiskies.
“Scotland has been getting warmer and drier summers than ever before. Although Tomatin is lucky that it has not had to worry about its water supply for the majority of its history, the industry as a whole now has a much closer eye on how much water is being extracted for making whisky, particularly during dry summers,” he mentioned.
“At Tomatin, we have reduced our water extraction by 50% over the last couple of years. So the quantity of water coming into the distilleries to make our whiskey has reduced by half, and that’s an incredible thing.”
Adamson additionally defined that nothing that they’ve finished has been significantly groundbreaking, as a number of effort was put into simply bringing the distillery’s tools as much as a extra trendy customary.
A historic picture of the Tomatin Distillery. Loads of the distillery’s efforts have gone into upgrading the 126-year-old distillery to trendy requirements.
“It’s the little things here and there that have really helped, putting in new regulators on the condensers and things like that,” he mentioned. “But I think that’s a big thing (for the industry to do). There are a lot of new distilleries now that, because they were built today, have to be modern and sustainable.
“But with Tomatin, you’re talking about distillery (that) a lot of which was built 126 years ago, and has grown over time. So we’re now retrofitting it with the most up-to-date technology in order to make sure that we’re working with sustainable practices.
“For that to be recognised … I think it is incredibly important. And it’s something that our distillery team are very, very keen on exploring further.”
There’s a connection between Tomatin and the individuals that you simply don’t see in different distilleries, says Adamson.
Another necessary facet of their story is that for the final 126 years, Tomatin has not solely been a distillery, it’s additionally a group. “We’ve got 30 cottages on site, and they’re occupied by men and women who live and work at the distillery. We’ve got members of the third, fourth and even fifth generation of the same families living and working on site,” Adamson mentioned, including that the Tomatin Legacy celebrates the influence the distillery has had on the group of the city it’s named after.
“There’s a connection between Tomatin and the people that you don’t see in other distilleries. That bond between people and place really ensures that everything that we’re doing today allows their sons and their grandsons and their granddaughters to continue producing whisky for us as well.”
The Tomatin Legacy was created as a tribute to the group of people who reside and work across the distillery.
Ultimately, Adamson confused that Tomatin stays dedicated to creating the perfect whisky it will probably probably make, particularly with its core vary of the Tomatin Legacy, Tomatin 12 Year Old, Tomatin 14 Year Old, and Tomatin 18 Year Old.
But on the identical time, additionally they need to guarantee a greater future for the following generations.
“For whisky as a whole, time is such an incredibly important thing. When we’re producing whisky today, we often look to the past when this whisky was first made.
“So much of Scotch whisky is looking to the past and the traditions. But I think these days, looking forward looking in the future is equally as important,” Adamson concluded.
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