Back in the heady days of the 1970s, Tomatin boasted the largest capacity of any Scottish malt distillery, with no fewer than 23 stills capable of turning out a theoretical 12.5m litres of spirit per year.
Since then, times have changed dramatically for the Highland distillery, located 15 miles south of Inverness, and many of those changes have come during Graham Eunson’s spell at the helm. The focus has shifted from selling large quantities of spirit to third parties to developing an award-winning range of highly-respected single malts. During the past decade alone, sales of Tomatin have grown by 170 per cent.
Eunson joined Tomatin in 2011 as distillery general manager, and eight years later was appointed distillery operations director. Now, after a total of 34 years in the Scotch whisky industry, he is retiring from that role, leaving Tomatin in demonstrably better shape than when he arrived.
Eunson was born on Orkney, growing up on the family beef farm. A period as apprentice carpenter was followed by employment in the island’s Scapa distillery, moving from warehouse to mash house, then stillhouse, before a role as trainee brewer began his managerial career. “It was the old-school way of progressing in the industry,” he recalls.
Unfortunately, Scapa closed in 1994, and Eunson, his wife and one-year-old son made the move to the Scottish mainland and a role at Glendronach distillery in Aberdeenshire. Again, however, the fates intervened, and in 1996 Glendronach also fell silent.
Next came the role of assistant manager to Dr Bill Lumsden at Glenmorangie, subsequently taking on the position of manager when Lumsden moved to head office.
Having seen two distilleries close during his tenure with them, Graham Eunson got the chance to put a distillery back into production, taking on the daunting task of recommissioning and reopening Glenglassaugh on the Moray Coast in 2008, after 22 years of silence.
His skill in that role clearly caught the attention of those in charge of Tomatin, which had become the first Japanese-owned Scottish distillery in 1986, and subsequently somewhat lost its way.
As Eunson explains, “When I joined Tomatin we were operating with 12 stills and we were still running as though we needed to be making whisky 24/7, filling a still as soon as it was empty. I changed that to make the distillation more balanced, and we have a 12 to 13 hours run time on our spirit stills, which gives us the quality we want — light, fruity and sweet spirit. We have lots of capacity, so no need to rush, and we get much greater consistency.
“I was brought in when we were changing the strategy from producing bulk spirit for other people to focus on our own single malt. That made us masters of our own destiny. When I arrived, cask sales and reciprocal sales accounted for 70-80 per cent of our business and just 20-30 per cent was with our single malt. Now it’s 60-70 per cent single malt.”
As well as distillation practices, a significant change at Tomatin has involved an increasing number of visitors. In 2018 the distillery hosted a record 40,000, and this year 32,000 to 34,000 are expected. “Visitor income only accounts for four or five percent of our overall turnover,” notes Graham Eunson, “but it’s the shop window for the brand, and at some point, there will be a new visitor centre.”
During his time at Tomatin, Eunson has overseen the development and introduction of lightly-peated Tomatin under the Cù Bòcan name and the integration of The Antiquary premium blended brand after its acquisition in 1996 and re-launch during 2024.
At the same time, the Tomatin single malt range has been extended to encompass whiskies up to 50 years of age, though Eunson’s personal favourite is the NAS Legacy expression. He explains that “I was asked to develop a younger, sweeter, easier drinking Tomatin that would work in cocktails, and we narrowed it down to three versions that we shared with the staff in bottles only marked A, B and C. So, it was a real team effort to choose it. I really like the virgin oak and ex-bourbon cask combination.”
When asked about his most significant achievement at Tomatin, Eunson points to the wood policy that has been developed during his time at the distillery. “It’s essential to get the best casks. We like to use refill casks if we’re maturing for long periods so that the wood doesn’t overwhelm the spirit. Getting the stocks into a good position has been very important. We fill really good spirit into really good casks — and in terms of wood management, I’d like to think I’ve left the distillery in a better place than I found it.”
Eunson is to work for two or three days a month with Tomatin until the end of the year, and adds that “ My daughter is distillery manager for Diageo at Roseisle and her house and garden need renovating, so I have that to do. Hopefully, I’ll also get to travel more with my wife, including a visit to Japan, and in October our first grandchild will be born at Tomatin, where my son Scott is a shift operator.”
To celebrate Grahan Eunson’s major contribution to the ongoing story of Tomatin, the distillery has released Tomatin Legacy Makers — Graham Eunson Edition single malt, comprising whisky from a refill hogshead filled in 1990 and a French oak barrique from 2011. Bottled at 56.1%ABV, the expression is available for £150 via https://tomatin.com/shop/limited-releases/graham-eunson-limited-edition.
