Littlemill 1990: Scottish summer in a glass
Signatory Vintage is one of the most talked about independent bottlers of the last two years or so. The tremendously affordable bottlings in their 100 proof series make waves amongst enthusiasts who were quite done with indulging ridiculous pricing for (sometimes not even) quality single malt. Signatory fluffed up the whisky bed, and now we sleep in a fresh environment. The bottling on the table today comes from the more regular line of offerings by Signatory Vintage. I believe that these bottlings are still done, but somehow I do not see them as often. Perhaps because in The Netherlands we are offered bottlings named The Ultimate by Van Wees, which has drawn from the same Signatory stock ever since dinosaurs still walked the earth. In those innocent days, bottlings like these containing Littlemill or the previously lost distillery of Rosebank would show up very regularly in shops. Can you imagine that today?
Littlemill is one of those lowland distilleries that has its reputation thanks to independent bottlers and happy accidents. More importantly, Littlemill also has the distinction of being the oldest licensed distillery in Scotland when things went on the record in 1772 (some action might have been going on before even that year). The distillery went silent in 1994 and was demolished. All hope finally faded when a big fire put the site in ashes in 2004. In Brian Townsend’s book “Scotch Missed” (updated in 2000), he still speaks of Littlemill being mothballed and there being plans to turn the distillery into a museum of distilling. All this never came to pass, sadly. The company behind Littlemill still releases whisky to this day, be it extremely old with an according price of course, all of them in the plural thousands. You can read the excellent website here.
The happy accidents I referred to before was similar to what happened with stock of the legendary Port Ellen and Brora malts. Keep it in the wood, and something special happens! Littlemill at young age was a so-so malt whisky, but with years being added, the often light spirit turned into the tropical delight you normally find in Irish whisky and some of the usual suspects in Scotland. A plethora of independent bottlings hit the market in the previous decades, probably paving the way for those billionaire-aimed releases on the official site.
Littlemill 17 years old, 1990 – 2008, bottled at 43 % abv by Signatory Vintage
First things first: A batch of three casks, # 3002, 3003 and 3004 and diluted to 43 % abv resulted in 1197 bottles of this 17 years old Littlemill. Matured in hogsheads. Distillation took place on 26 October 1990 and bottling was done on 9 April 2008.
Upon Sipping: Incredibly light coloured Littlemill, delivering us the promise of spirit driven lowland malt! And indeed, this does not disappoint at all. A big hit of mango, overripe peach, sweet barley and dry vanilla. Some whiffs of smoke, probably from the wood impact. Impeccable nose, and showing the tropical fruity side of Littlemill that would bring so much fame to the distillery when stock was getting more mature. Amidst al the fruity notes, we also get a decent amount of floral beds near Loch Lomond. Scottish summer in a glass.
The fruity character is definitely there on the palate too, but the mouthfeel is obviously very light when diluted to 43 % abv. Still, there is some spicy hotness to be found in the glass. Rosebank may have the reputation amongst these Signatory bottlings, but this Littlemill delivers too in offering quite the complexity. It helps that just the slightest hint of cardboard is not bigger than it is. The malted barley puts a big print on the drinking experience of this Littlemill, but the fruit infusion adds loads of charm. With a nice finish, carrying the lightest touch of wood and chocolate, this is a perfect allrounder from Littlemill.
Word to the Wise: These modest bottlings from the 2000s underline the rise to fame of single malt whisky in the early years of this millennium. We had it good! This fruity Littlemill shows all the signs of the rise to the solid fruity reputation the brand would carry while moving on through the years.
Score: 88 points.