The whiskey-supping faction of the cat world was left sobbing in snifters yesterday (Sept. 10) when news broke that their iconic mascot, Peat the Distillery Cat, had passed away. Young Peat was just six months old when he was hit by a car while wandering around the grounds of the Glenturret distillery in Scotland. The accident proved fatal.

Peat’s story is a short but hallowed one: He arrived at Glenturret as the latest in a line of replacements for Towser, the legendary mouser who passed away in March 1987 after catching a Guinness World Record number of 28,889 mice. A statue commemorating Towser’s great deed stands proud at the distillery to this day.

Having taken to the role of the Glenturret mouser with gusto, Peat also found time to embrace the nature of the modern world and became active on his own Twitter account along with putting himself forward for media opportunities.

Alas, though, tragedy struck on Monday of this week when Peat was found suffering from serious wounds at the side of a road. An official announcement about his death was held over until Wednesday, possibly as a mark of respect to the noble distillery cat community.

Paying tribute to Peat, the distillery’s business development manager, Lesley Williamson, said, “He was inquisitive, fearless, and a social cat, and we will all miss him terribly.”

Rest in whiskey-hued peace, dear Peat.

About Phillip Mlynar: The self-appointed world’s foremost expert on rappers’ cats. When not penning posts on rap music, he can be found building DIY cat towers for his adopted domestic shorthair, Mimosa, and collecting Le Creuset cookware (in red). He has also invented cat sushi, but it’s not quite what you think it is.