There’s been a bit of a Littlemill renaissance in the last few years. As so often seems to happen with closed distilleries that had ho-hum reputations when they were open, casks of Littlemill that have now sat around for two decades or more since the distillery closed have matured to display very positive characteristics: in particular, an intensely fruity character. Casks from 1988-1990, just before the distillery closed, are the ones that seem to be receiving the most plaudits. This one, bottled by the Nectar, is from 1990 but was released a few years ago, a little before the Littlemill renaissance really got underway. Let’s get right to it.

Littlemill 20, 1990 (54.3%; Nectar of the Daily Drams; from a sample received in a swap)

Nose: A little spirity at first but floral and fruity aromas emerge, the latter quite sweet (peaches, ripe melon). Quite a bit of malt too and a bit of pepper. Seems a little closed. Let’s give it some time to settle. With time there’s a fair bit of lemon and the malt’s still there. Some vanilla too now. With a drop of water the lemon recedes a bit and there’s some prickly bite. Continue reading →