CÙ BÒCAN UNLOCKS THE UNUSUAL WITH TIMO JANSE

Our #UnlocktheUnusual Series is back. This time we were joined by esteemed mixologist, self professed “cocktail crazy enthusiast” and bar owner Timo Janse. We challenged Timo to “unlock the unusual” using his esteemed mixology skills to create a serve for each of Cù Bòcan’s three whisky expressions.

Timo describes his first job in a bar as “love at first sight”, he continues, “I knew I was in the right spot, and doing what I was supposed to be doing. When you get into bartending there is the joy of the social element, but it wasn’t until I really got focused on the mixology part of it that I realised there’s actually a whole world behind the bar, you never stop developing, you learn more about each individual ingredient, each individual spirit, each individual technique, and you could do that for multiple lifetimes. You can develop and take out of it what you want, and you will never be done, you will never be bored. It never really felt like work after that”.

Timo’s passion for creativity and curiosity is inherent within Cù Bòcan, a brand born from experimentation. When we first laid down peated spirit at Tomatin Distillery in 2005 the intention was very much that it would be used in blending. Luckily for us our distillery manager recognised the quality of the spirit coming off the stills and laid some of it down into three different cask types for use in a future single malt expression. This curiosity set the foundation for what would become Cù Bòcan.

Today we continue to fill these three cask types – Bourbon, Oloroso Sherry and Virgin American Oak each year and they make up our one and only ongoing product: Cù Bòcan Signature.  We also have our limited batch releases Creation #1 and Creation #2, they throw the traditional single malt rule book out the window as our whisky makers are driven by flavour and curiosity rather than consistency and convention.

In three episodes Timo presents his serve(s) after we challenged him to unlock the unusual with Cù Bòcan Highland Single Malt. Brand ambassador Scott Adamson joins him to discuss all things mixology and whisky. Watch below and try for yourself at home!

Timo Janse co owns The Flying Dutchmen bar in Amsterdam with Tess Posthumus. flyingdutchmencocktails.shop

Photo credit – Rudi Merkin