Littlemill 24 Year Old 1988 The Whiskyman

A ruin is all that is left of the Littlemill distillery at this time, after a devastating fire in 2004 (not an accident, according to many). But there is still quite a bit of the nectar available for bottling. Many Indies bring you gems from this Lowlander, like the 19 Year Old from Silver Seal or the 20 Year Old Malts of Scotland for Fulldram, aptly nicknamed Fruity Freeway. Today, we are trying the newest independent release for The Whiskyman. It is the oldest Littlemill I have had up to this point: 24 years old.

On the nose… oh my God, what is this?!? This is by far the weirdest Littlemill nose I have ever had. It bursts with guimauve. Excuse me? Do you know those pink/yellow/white/orange candies in the form of Virgin Mary statues, often received by kids during the festive season? That is guimauve. And this Littlemill is the liquid form of it. It takes quite some doing to find the fruit in there, but it is present in the form of grapefruit, pineapple and oranges. Finally some white chocolate and aniseed. Very special.

It is very soft, but very peppery and quite bitter. Yep, the tropical fruit passes the tastebuds again, but is pushed in the corner by the oak. Some coconut is trying to break through, but to no avail. And still… it works. In fact, it works wonders.

The finish is soft, bittersweet and medium in length.

My first reaction may have been somewhat fierce. But I really had to take my time with this one. In the end, not only is it very good, it is also very special indeed. Unique, I daresay. A gamble in my opinion, but one I believe will pay off big time. ‘Sympathy for the Whisky’, aptly named! Around 120 EUR.

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