Littlemill 20 y.o. Liquid Library (The Whisky Agency) 1992 – 2012 Bourbon Hogshead, 313 btl., 51,6%

Comment: Nice one again, aahhh, wonderful freshness and amazing complexity! I am getting green grass, spinach, pine needle, vanilla, fudge toffee, sweet malt, thyme and rosemary, cinnamon, cilantro, cardamom, pepper, ginger ale, smoke, wet earth, nutty elements, pineapple, maraschino cherries and plums. It tastes very fruity and vanilla-toffee-like, berries, malt, spice and grass join in. The finish brings back all aromas of the nose in soft waves. Kudos, one of the best Bourbon cask Littlemill from those years up to date, i.m.h.o.!

Score: 90

Littlemill 22 y.o. Malts of Scotland MoS 28.03.1989 – 05.2011, sherry butt 2511, 325 btl., 52,8%

Comment: Smokier, slightly darker, sherried and spicier than its predecessor. Surprisingly rummy as well but overall the same fresh profile (rosemary, thyme, pine needle, maraschino sherry, pineapple, plums, cinnamon, cardamom, smoke). The taste is on the herbal side and displays a dark woodiness of the fine kind – there must have been great sherry casks used at Littlemill back in the late 1980ies. The depth of the finish is breathtaking. High quality!

Score: 91

Littlemill 23 y.o. TheWhiskyCask 1988 – 2012, first-fill sherry butt, 54,9%

Comment: Way darker stuff! It possesses beautiful aromas of old sherry casks in this noble style – like early 1970 Bowmore wood, I daresay, clearly there but unobtrusive. This one adds cigar and humidor notes to the earthy smokiness, very close to the excellent 1989 sherry cask releases by Archives and Whisky-Fässle (check their tasting notes here on the page by following the link above). Great balance, too, amazing! The taste has dry moments and the other features of such casks while bringing the usual qualities to the table as well, just a darker style that dampens the profile a bit overall.

Score: 90+

Bonus:

Littlemill 22 y.o. Liquid Library (The Whisky Agency) 1989 – 2011, sherry wood, 221 btl., 48,3%

Comment: A bit thinner and more fragile than the bottlings before but a great Littlemill nonetheless. Like the smoother and softer brother of the MoS release.

Score: 89

No words make sense here: R.I.P. Tommy

Littlemill 23 y.o. Archives 1988 – 2012, Sherry Cask, 48 btl., 49,3%

Comment: Close to the Whisky-Fässle version, but a bit less elegant at first (please compare my nitpicking here), however after a while it becomes just as nice. The same whisky (look at the numbers …)? Obvious sherry influence, super combo of dark and bright fruitiness, big sandalwood, a little peat and moss, discrete vanilla, altogether great from the start with intensity – an old  Macallan-like moment just as in the one from Whisky-Fässle (sweet maltiness, morello cherries, discrete raisins, earthy notes, orange zest and fine cigar). Later, whiffs of cinnamon, plums and berries join in, a high class malt with impeccable balance, no doubt that this stands out from so many others in the whisky ocean. It tastes as great as it noses and is again comparable to the Whisky-Fässle release in profile, but a tiny bit less deep in my memory – but it might as well be identical with a little treatment and time. Only few know … and who cares, I wouldn’t mind having more bottles of such quality.

Score: 91

Littlemill 20 y.o. Whisky-Doris 4.1991 – 2.2012, Bourbon Cask 554, 49%

Comment: Quite some oak and tannin (a tad too much for the subtlety of this dram), dry maltiness, sawdust and alcohol, loads of licorice, vanilla, dried flowers, freshly cut grass, then some fruits (pineapple, watermelon, grapefruit, kiwi, gooseberries, tangerines, lemon dash, peaches), orange zest, traces of coconut and macadamia. On the palate, it convinces me much more with an explosion of fruit, vanilla, licorice  and hay which counter the oak well until the tannics and the dry malt win over in the finish. Water is recommended as it tones down the oak and puts more weight on the fruit. As expected, another nice Littlemill. Where have you been in recent years?

Score: 87