Littlemill 25 Private Cellar Edition [oloroso sherry cask] –Review

Some time ago I saw a twitter / Facebook call for bloggers willing (yes, willing!) to taste this new OB Littlemill and blog about it , and I kindly accepted the offer (yes, who am I kidding, I wanted to taste it). Littlemill is becoming very popular lately (in our own circles of whisky geeks , lovers and wannabees), and I’ve tasted a few nice IBs… so, why not?

Anyways, you can always count on the Israeli mail to fuck up, and this time they fucked up magnificentlyl, as holidays were upon us, and whatever, so I got my package only about two weeks later. I did not wait , and sat down to taste the hooch.

A bit of info : The Loch Lomond Group were releasing this 25 year old Littlemill,from a distillery which has long gone, destroyed by fire in 2004 and now mostly demolished. Selected from a mix of 10 American and European oak casks which were then married together and finished in Oloroso sherry casks. 1500 bottles, bottle includes a mini, and the price? € 2700 . yes, TWO THAOUSAND AND SEVEN HUNDERD EURO. OUCH.

I am very lucky to have tasted it, and It’s superb. here are my notes:

Littlemill 25 Private Cellar Edition  , 50.4% , € 2700 littlemill

Nose: lovely creamy and cereals entry with a lot of brilliant oaky noted. Tasted old and elegant wood with a smoked hickory wood touch to it. A few meaty  notes. Mostly game in sweet BBQ sauce. The Oloroso is present and lovely. This is a finely aged nose. I love it. Some rhubarb jam and ripe orange. Very complex nose in this.

Palate : a nice start here too. Red grapefruit as in lovely citrus with a bitter sweet edge. Sweet but not cloying sherry,  that gentle marinated meat, nuts and cereal. It’s quite a big palate and it oozes flavors. One moment it  is spicy and the other it is fruity then getting candied. Again there’s stuff to discover with every sip and that is brilliant. Impressive.

Finish : long and spicy with a vinous and fruity cereal finish. While wheat bread,  with berry- marmalade on top.

 

Bottom Line:

This is a superb drop. I was a bit skeptical about it before I tasted it, bit from first sniff, it was clear it is a dram to savor. Complex, full bodies, with many layers of flavor and aromas. A pure delight. If it were priced more humbly that would make a great buy, but at this price I doubt many will pop open the big bottle (nice touch with the mini though). Good stuff, but unapproachable to most. Thank you for the sample guys!

 

Score: 91/100

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