December 30, 2015

A true verticale of Littlemill

A verticale of Littlemill is something special for sure, so it’s perfect for the holidays, especially when some of the whiskies you’ve got on the tasting table are stemming from vintages much older than 1988 to 1992. Much, much older… Ready? Let’s start with a 1992->1988 session and then, you’ll see what we’ve got today… Oh and we’re expecting a strike.

Littlemill 22 yo 1992/2014 (52.5%, Hart Brothers, Finest Collection, American oak)

This little baby from one of the distillery's very last years of activity. Colour: straw. Nose: this one starts very grassy, with also grapefruit skins and green leaves, but the expected mega-fruitiness is soon to come out. Plantains, passion fruits, more grapefruits (their flesh this time)… Having said that, it remains pretty chalky and grassy altogether, it’s not a fruit bomb. With water: more of a fruit bomb, but a delicate one. Love these touches of fennel and fresh mint that rise to your nostrils. Reminds me of some Jurançons. Mouth (neat): sweets and marshmallows topped with triple-sec, pepper, and spearmint. Very tart, powerful… and lovely. Its as if around the end, Littlemill had benchmarked Rosebank. With water: I’m not sure it swims totally well on your palate, getting a tad too leafy and drying. Strong green tea? But that remains all fine. Finish: quite long, peppery, leafy, rather on green fruits. Maybe rhubarb, maybe greengages. Or maybe limes. Comments: high class for sure. SGP:561 - 87 points.

Littlemill 24 yo 1991/2015 (50.8%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, 144 bottles)

This one’s brand new, but it seems that there’s been some demand. How bizarre! Colour: gold. Nose: same ball park. Perhaps more ‘evidently fruity’, and with a little more almondy touches (marzipan, amaretti). Whiffs of cloves and nutmeg as well, but other than that, it’s all bananas, maracujas, grapefruits, and greener bananas. The spiciness is very unusual, it reminds me of some old spicy cakes that my grandma used to bake. Some dry oak (not that grandma ever added oak to her cakes). With water: some American oak, more bananas, a little sponge cake, and funny drops of petrol. Mouth (neat): excellent spicy fruitiness. All-vitamins fruit juice spiced up with green pepper and nutmeg. With water: this one swims well! Why one cask would stand water much better than a similar cask remains a mystery to me. Superb tropical fruits, many citrusy. A touch of pineapple as well. Finish: quite long, zesty, fresh, and extremely ‘late-period Littlemill’. Comments: just excellent, and so very drinkable. Some flawless fruity Littlemill. SGP:551 - 89 points.

Littlemill 23 yo 1990/2014 (52.3%, The Whisky Agency with LMDW and Spirits.com.tw, Jam Session #2, bourbon hogshead, cask #30, 172 bottles)

This baby came with one of the greatest whisky labels ever – says this jazz fan. Colour: light gold. Nose: it’s one of the chalkier ones, but also perhaps one of the more complex Littlemills. Superb whiffs of wulong tea (no wonder some Taiwanese friends selected it) plus a little moss and fern, an obvious sauvignony side (hello Sancerre) and only then, some fresh tropical fruits. Unbeatable so far. With water: immaculate, very zesty, sharp, very far from ‘just fruit syrup’. Love this nose. Mouth (neat): oh my, this rocks, hits, and then soothes. It’s on full Sancerre mode, as if Didier Dagueneau had done a little distilling up there in Scotland. White currants, green bananas, lemons, limestone, grass, rhubarb… Indeed this profile is hard to beat (but rest assured that we shall try). With water: superlative. We’ll leave it at that. Finish: quite long, a tad rounder and fruitier, but the signature remains very sauvignony. We’re not talking cheap supermarket sauvignon of course. All great. Comments: I’ve not found all 1990s stellar in the past, but this one just clicks. SGP:551 - 90 points.

Good, the 1990s are done. All were excellent, but let’s move further down the years…

Littlemill 25 yo 1989/2014 (50.9%, The Whisky Agency for The Auld Alliance & Three Rivers, 282 bottles)

Some Lowland whisky bottled by some Germans for some Singaporeans and Japanese, how ‘world’ is that? And how cool? Colour: pale gold. Nose: it’s an Irish Littlemill. You know, these Littlemills that, should you not pay attention, you’d think were distilled at Midleton, with a kind of pure pot still character. Redbreast isn’t too far, but this has rather more oomph and brightness. Herbal teas, bananas (both green and yellow), limestone, grapefruits… In a way, this is a greasier Sancerre. Perfect. With water: soot and limoncello, that’s what I’m finding now. Mouth (neat): and once again I find it a little more ‘Irish’ than the others. This is a true fruit bomb, with mangos, passion fruits, bananas, citrons, gooseberries, even ‘normal’ apples… What’s also great is the way the minerality keeps its all straight and never ‘whorish’ (wot?) With water: more of the same, although it may get a little more citrusy and zesty, losing its Irish fatness. Finish: quite long, but rather more herbal, grassy, unexpectedly austere. Comments: it lost one or two point at the finish, but it’s still totally and utterly great. SGP:561 - 89 points.

As for the 1988, we could stay in Asia… BTW, many authors wrote that Littlemill was silent from 1984 to 1989. Maybe did the owners do a few short pre-re-opening runs in 1988? Or are those authors wrong?

Littlemill 26 yo 1988/2015 (51.2%, The Whisky Agency for Art Taiwan and Bow Bar Sapporo, World Bar Tour, refill hogshead, cask #7, 147 bottle)

Taiwan again! Not only do these distinguished people make great whisky (see Kavalan, see Nantou), they also pull some of the best Scotches. As regards to our Japanese friends, we’ve been knowing that for ages, haven’t we. Colour: pale gold. Nose: a rather different style, a little more buttery and beerish at first nosing, with more vanilla as well, and rather more ‘cooked’ aromas (vs. fresh ones). In truth this one is becoming one of these decadent fruity Littlemills, the ones you just cannot resist. Fruit salad, tinned fruits, fruit syrups, and, well, anything fruity. Bananas, pineapples, mangos, the whole shebang. With water: immediate and complex at the same time, that’s not common. Superb whiffs of pot-pourri. Mouth (neat): more Cooley than Midleton as far as Irishness is concerned – because yes, once again, this Littlemill feels pretty Irish. Fruit syrups, light honeys, a touch of stone and a touch of metal, some honeysuckle tea… All good. With water: perfect. It never gets flabby, while we’ve tasted some fruit monsters that did get a little, well, flabby once water had been added. Not so here, on the contrary. Finish: quite long, complex, on herbal teas and soft fruits. The aftertaste is pretty much on citrus, which keeps your mouth as fresh as a baby’s. Comments: well done TWA, well done Art Taiwan, and well done Bow Bar (a high reputation, the Bow Bar…) SGP:651 - 91 points.

Good, I think we pretty much covered the last vintages, so can we move back to… The 1960s?

Littlemill 17 yo 1966/1984 (46%, Cadenhead, black dumpy)

A rare vintage, a vintage that’s already been fabulous elsewhere. But will this baby be as fruity as the 1988-1992s? In my meagre experience with older Littlemills, probably not, let’s see… Colour: straw. Nose: it’s got he ‘black dumpy’ nose. A nose that should come from the spirits, but that may also come from the glass, the caps, time, how they used to work in Aberdeen (where the company was located before it was moved to Campbeltown), or anything else. Because it’s got these metallic touches, these whiffs of old oils and papers, and this phenolic extravaganza that could make any malt smell like old Ardbeg. Also a little butter, croissants, polishes, bits of sour fruits, plasticine… But is it as evidently fruity as the ‘modern’ Littlemills? Certainly not! But it’s very nice for sure, provided you enjoy the ‘olden style’. Mouth: hold on, this is mindboggling. I had also thought most older Littlemills were dry, cardboardy, and a little hard. This one isn’t, even if it’s got this dirty side that won’t please any modern palate. Metal dust. Now it’s also got a pastry-like side that’s easier and most pleasant, with spicy baklavas and, perhaps, a little mead or the spirits distilled thereof. Do you know Breton chouchen? Tends to become more spicy and peppery over time, and a little drying. Finish: long, spicy, metallic in a good way, and fruity again in the aftertaste. Some kind of apple pie without much sugar or honey. Which is the way anyway, remember sugar kills! Comments: yeah well, it’s great, but it hasn’t got its descendants’ fruity brightness. Hard to score, because this is a kind of sacred cow. This will do… SGP:352 - 87 points.

Time to call this a proper tasting session, but since this is a verticale, I think we should try some Littlemill from the 1950s, thanks to our friend Angus. This is a first at WF Towers…

Littlemill 30 yo 1950/1981 (53.5%, OB, stone flagon, 75cl)

I’m so happy I can try this! Granted, stone bottles are tricky, and I know many a Springbank or Highland Park collector who’re lamenting the loss of quite a few cls of whisky, due to evaporation. Right, litres. But sometimes, these flagons just behave like glass bottles, I don’t know why. Perhaps the glazing on the inside? Better stoppers? Better environments? Or bottles that were not stored on their sides because some stupid presentation cases stupidly designed by stupid people were suggesting that was the way, like with many Cognacs? Bah, let’s simply check this one and see whether it got stale or not…

Colour: amber. Nose: hold on, isn’t this old rum? Or even old agricole from Martinique? Because I’ll tell you what, had I nosed this blind, that’s what I’d have written. Sugarcane juice, delicate raisins, clay, camphor, old mint liqueurs, embrocations, patchouli, tiger balm, menthol, tarry ropes, aromatic herbs (sage, rosemary)… And more and more clay. It’s not too strong (anymore?), I don’t think it needs water. Mouth: what not strong! This is firm and amazingly assertive (indeed, love that word), wonderfully herbal – old-chartreuse-herbal – and just, well, powerful. Old mint liqueurs, glazed ginger, cinchona, wheelbarrows of bitter oranges, pinesap, honeydew, marzipan, a touch of tapenade (crushed olives and anchovies)… In fact I find this glorious. I hope this kind of complexity will never be lost, not particularly talking about Littlemill here. Finish: long, saltier, even kind of coastal, sappy, almondy… And we’re finding more bitter oranges in the aftertaste. Comments: it was the big question, could Littlemill be as great as the last vintages in the older days? Most old OBs used to answer ‘nope’ (5, 8, 12, 17…) but I have to say this 30 years old was just superb. I’m so glad I could taste it, thanks Angus! SGP:462 - 93 points.

Check the index of all Littlemill I've tasted so far