Whiskybase has bottled an Anniversary release of its Archives series and one of them is quite unmistakably named “the best Littlemill ever”. That’s a serious allegation!
Littlemill 20 yo 1992 (54,8%, Archives 2012, bourbon hogshead #44, 339 btl.)
Littlemill 20 yo 1992 (54,8%, Archives 2012, bourbon hogshead #44, 339 btl.)Nose: fairly malty at first. A tad porridgy too which I tend to find disturbing in whisky. Then some grassy notes. It needs some fifteen minutes to develop its full (yet slightly subdued) fruitiness. Melon, yellow apples and plenty of grapefruit. Something creamy as well, like peach yoghurt. Nice layers of vanilla and beeswax. Lemon balm. Some hay. Oak shavings in the background.
Mouth: oily and quite grassy / spicy. Again this peculiar milky note as well. Then the expected lemons, pink grapefruit and wax. A very faint resinous bitterness. Citrus green tea.
Finish: long, dry, slightly fruity with a grapefruit zestiness and soft herbal notes.
The best recent Littlemill I know is indeed an Archives bottling, but not this one. At least not for me, although I have to acknowledge that this is a more typical, chiselled expression of Littlemill with an above average complexity. Around € 100, found here.
Score: 89/100