Tomatin Distillery have gone the extra mile giving the famous North Coast 500 route, Scotland’s No.1 coastal adventure, a unique whisky theme.
They have created the Tomatin Route 501 to give whisky fans an opportunity to bring to life their limited edition ‘Five Virtues’ series of whiskies and it takes in stunning Scottish landscapes that reflect the elements and names of the five single malt whiskies – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.
To mark the launch of the Tomatin Route 501, the Highland distillery challenged North Blog adventurer Tristan Cameron-Harper to experience and capture the best of the new route.
Adding a stop to his NC500 journey, with a visit to the Tomatin Distillery for a tour and tasting session, the explorer sampled whisky at some of Scotland's most picturesque locations and embarked on a series of challenges along the North Coast 500 to celebrate Tomatin's Five Virtues whisky series.
Inspired by the five natural elements involved in its production process, the Five Virtues series includes the Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water editions. North blogger Cameron-Harper engaged with each of these elements at some of Scotland's most famous beauty spots, including: Inverewe Gardens, Kildonan Burn, Smoo Cave and Fairy Glen Falls.
A deep-rooted love for the Scottish landscape and taste for adventure, makes Cameron-Harper perfectly suited to explore Scotland's wealth of natural elements, in order to understand their intrinsic importance to the whisky making process.
Referred to as Scotland's answer to America's Route 66, the route has attracted an additional 29,000 visitors and an additional £29 million in its first year to the Highlands. 2016 saw a record 1.7 million people visit distilleries north of the border, with the largest proportion of visitors coming from Germany, Scotland and other parts of the UK, the USA and France.
Jennifer Masson, Tomatin Marketing Manager, said: "We're incredibly excited to have Tristan launch the Tomatin Route 501 project. We think that his insatiable thirst for adventure in the natural world, and our expert handling of these natural elements, are representative of the perfect marriage distilled in each of the Five Virtues single malt expressions.”
Speaking about his travels on the North Coast 500, adventurer Tristan Cameron-Harper expressed the profound effect the landscape had on his experience of Tomatin's single-malts: "Being able to interact with the Scottish landscape while enjoying a nip of one of the Five Virtue whiskies, adds a whole new level to the whisky tasting experience."
The first three expressions in the limited edition Five Virtues series, 'Wood', 'Fire' and 'Earth' are available now from all specialist whisky retailers, and can be enjoyed at the price of £49.99.
The final expressions 'Metal' and 'Water' will be released in early 2018.
Tomatin was awarded Distiller Of The Year 2016 and Brand Innovator Of The Year 2017 at the Icons of Whisky Scotland Awards and currently ranks in the Top 10 Single Malt brands in the USA.
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