We’ve had some excellent independent Littlemill expressions in the past few years, but the official bottlings don’t have the same reputation. While the indy early 90’s versions are expressive fruit bombs, the older officials tend to be shy, dusty and cereally.
In our glass we have the Littlemill 1975, released in 1999 in the typical green dumpy bottle.
Littlemill 1975 (40%, OB 1999)
Littlemill 1975 (40%, OB 1999)Nose: a lot of apple skin with hay. Cider apples. Apple seeds as well. A vague sweetness of berries. Some buttery tones. Some musty wood and a bit of wet newspaper. Very old-fashioned.
Mouth: sweeter than expected, fruity but in a totally different way than these 1990’s bottlings. Syrupy orange, melons and candy apples. Sugared tea. Again some hay and sweet herbs, with a light metallic edge.
Finish: medium long, mostly on sweet grains.
Like most official Littlemills, this is fairly simple and certainly not superb. But it’s not bad either and there’s something about it that won my sympathy. Around € 400 in auctions, but rarely seen on the market.
Score: 82/100