Les Ferdinand warmed up White Hart Lane on a freezing night with a 10-minute hat-trick that helped steer Tottenham comfortably into the semi-finals.
These teams have only met once before in this competition, when Bolton won 6-1. Five years on and Spurs exacted a large measure of revenge with a classy display that was just too hot for Wanderers' under-strength team to handle.
Glenn Hoddle likes to take this competition seriously, seeing it as a relatively simple route into Europe as well as recognising that the League Cup has been good to Tottenham - they are three-time winners.
As a result, the Spurs manager fielded as strong a side as he could bearing in mind Christian Ziege's absence through injury and the fact that defender Dean Richards was cup-tied.
Sam Allardyce, on the other hand, admits that Europe is not his priority this season. "Our agenda is survival in the Premiership," he admitted beforehand, and consequently made eight changes to the side which suffered its second consecutive Premiership defeat at Derby on Saturday. It was no surprise then to see Bolton's collection of fringe players go in at half-time four goals behind.
The first three came in a 10-minute spell midway through the half. Simon Davies, scorer of Spurs' winner against Fulham in the previous round, began the spree, swerving a shot past the unsighted Jussi Jaaskelainen from Teddy Sheringham's lay-back.
Ferdinand then notched his first as he headed home from at the far post after Ledley King, then Sheringham, had nodded on a long throw from the right.
His second was also created down the right, Darren Anderton's cross allowing the Spurs striker to stoop in front of the dawdling Nicky Southall and direct a header past the goalkeeper.
Ferdinand completed his hat-trick on 38 minutes when yet another cross from the right, this time from Davies, provided him with a free header at the far post.
In an attempt to prevent further embarrassment, Allardyce brought on the more experienced defender Mike Whitlow and the winger Ricardo Gardner at half-time.
Little changed, though. Bolton's humiliation was almost complete 11 minutes from time when their defender Anthony Barness managed to steer the substitute Sergei Rebrov's cross into his own net.
It was utterly complete when Steffen Iversen made it 6-0 with a close-range tap-in after Anderton had twice seen his shot blocked.
TOTTENHAM: Sullivan, Perry, King, Gardner, Davies, Poyet (Sherwood 72), Freund, Anderton, Taricco, Ferdinand (Rebrov 45), Sheringham (Iversen 67). Subs Not Used: Keller, Thelwell. Goals: Davies 21, Ferdinand 29, 30, 38, Barness 79 og, Iversen 84.
BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, Southall, Hendry, N'Gotty (Whitlow 45), Barness, Farrelly, Johnson, Frandsen (Wallace 67), Pedersen, Holdsworth, Nishizawa (Gardner 45). Subs Not Used: Viander, Ricketts. Booked: Jaaskelainen.
Referee: G Barber (Tring).
