A second reason is that it has had a a bit of a dodgy reputation a few years back, but indie bottlings over the past 2-3 years has show that Littlemill did, in fact, produce good whisky in the years leading up to its closure in 1994. 10 years later in 2004, what remained on the site was destroyed by fire.
Looking through old reviews online, it seems like young version of Littlemill have never been held in high esteem... could this be a case of Littlemill not shining until it reaches its late teens early 20's? much like Port Ellen, IMO... That said there's (of course) always the exception to the rule, but from what I've tasted myself over the years, e.g. from Port Ellen, I never really thought much of it at 13-14yo.... Anyway, this is just my stray thoughts on the matter. :-)
Now back to the Cadenhead Littlemill...
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| Littlemill Distillery - picture from WikiMedia |
Littlemill 1990 24yo 53,7%, 2 ex-bourbon hogsheads, 582 bottles, Cadenhead Small Batch
Colour is full straw
Nose:
Ohh, a very tropical little number this one, exotic wood, very noticeable coconut, then vanilla, mango fruit juice, melon and oranges. There's also a slight mineral-like edge to this nose. Wet gravel/dirt perhaps? Almonds/marzipan in here too It also shows some herbal notes at times... even notes of old CalvadosTaste:
Mango, peach and oranges peel held back by malt. There's more coconut, vanilla creme and overripe green grapes in there as well. What really strikes me with this one is how well the alcohol is integrates with the flavours here. The finish is not as heavy as one would expect but it goes on for a while and when its about to disappear you just want to take another sip!
It's the best Littlemill I've tried - it's deeeeelicious! :-)
At the first nosing/taste this came across with a bit of varnish/paint thinner which often can be the cask with Littlemill, but leave this one to breathe and a whole other world appears - in fact its up there with the most brilliant stuff I've tasted so far in 2015
91/100!
