September 30, 2015

Duels - two sherried Littlemill

Everybody loves the bright and vibrant fresh Littlemills by the indies, usually ex-refill hogshead or barrel. But this time, we’ll have some rather heavily sherried ones…

Littlemill 25 yo (50.4%, OB, 1500 decanters, 2015)

A fairly new official Littlemill by the new owners, bottled under the ‘Annual Release’ series. It’s a blend of the 1989 and 1990 vintages, 10 casks altogether, finished in 1st fill oloroso. Which might, in truth, be a bit scary… Colour: deep gold. Nose: the sherry speaks first, with a slightly oxidative style, some walnuts, a little tobacco, some bitter chocolate… Littlemill’s usual topical style remains a little muted, but you do ‘hear’ it if you listen hard. With water: improves a lot, with lovely whiffs of damp earth, mushrooms, and more walnuts. I like walnuts. Also a little leather, and oranges that are starting to sing louder. Mouth (neat): it is a pleasant combination of tart citrusy fruits and very tobacco-ish notes from the sherry. Pipe tobacco (not too dark) and tangerines, grapefruits and passion fruits (touches). Good body, and despite the finishing, it hasn’t quite lost the distillate’s original freshness. With water: quite some wood extracts, around menthol and pine sap. Perhaps a touch of wild thyme and even rosemary, which is ‘funny’. Finish: rather long, perhaps a tad drying now. Strong black tea and liquorice wood (flavoured with menthol). Comments: perhaps not one of these bright fruity Littlemills, but I find it more than good. Only the price may be a little less sexy, I’ve seen it at $2,628.95 (no typo) at The Whisky Barrel. SGP:551 - 87 points.

Littlemill and sherry, act two…

Littlemill 25 yo 1988/2014 (51.2%, Exclusive Malts for whisky.com.tw, Taiwan, sherry hogshead, cask #432, 204 bottles)

This baby is (well, was) a little cheaper at around one tenth of the OB’s price. Colour: mahogany. Nose: Littlemill wasn’t a big fat distillate, and indeed and once again, it’s the sherry that’s at work here, but the citrusy part is perhaps a little more noticeable than in the OB. Orangettes, or orange zests dipped into chocolate. Also some black tea. With water: a more chocolaty sherry after the OB, with less leather, but almost as much mint and earth. Mouth (neat): the orangettes are back! And blood oranges plus cocoa powder. I think this works very well, and it’s even got something, wait, Dalmore-ish (and more-ish). A touch of ginger and cinchona. With water: goody good, a little gritty at times, chocolaty, with some ‘dark’ oak. Eating a little piece of very black tobacco (while smoking an untipped Gauloise – if I remember well). Finish: long and chocolaty. Dry, but not drying. Comments: once again, it’s perhaps not extremely ‘Littlemilly’, but it’s cool sherried Lowland. Reminds of some Rosebank sherry of old. SGP:561 - 88 points.

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