Littlemill / Dunglass

   

Littlemill distillery is officially classified as a Lowland distillery, although it sits right at the border to the Highlands, so some claim it to be a Highland one.

It was founded in 1772 although it could claim to be the oldest in Scotland as it has roots originating back to 1750.

Littlemill was rebuilt in 1875 and it used a triple distillation process, like traditional Lowland distilleries, until the 1930's.

 
 

1971 Saw Barton Distilling (Scotland) as new owners and they operated the distillery until 1984 when it was closed.

Littlemill was taken over by Gibson International who reopened the distillery in 1989 but it was closed again in 1994 after they suffered bankruptcy.

The Receivers then sold Littlemill to the Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse company, owners of Loch Lomond, who own the site today.

Littlemill is now closed and demolished.

 

Distillery photos with kind permission by Teimei Horiuchi

 
 

More great distillery info here, thanks to Malt Madness

     

 

  Littlemill  

General whisky characteristics: Vanilla ice cream

 
   

Littlemill, 12y, 40% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

 
 

Glass: Spiegelau

Colour: Soft gold

Nose: Faint Alpine / Tirolean cheese turning after a few minutes into vanilla milkshake

Palate: Most of the flavour comes in the aftertaste as this is initially quite weak-flavoured. The flavours are primarily creamy vanilla ice cream.

With 3 drops of water: Slightly more lively with a little marzipan and much longer finish.

Finish: Short without water, much longer with water.

Overall Impression: Quite a disappointment, the flavours are quite weak and insignificant.

 

   

 

   

MoS, Littlemill,  28.3.1989-5.2011, 52.8% ABV

Sherry Butt, Cask No.2511, bottle No.36 of 325

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€

Reviewed (blind) as part of MMA 2011

 
 

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Glowing amber

Nose: Starts with lightly polished wood but soon expands to include butterscotch, herbs and light flora which remind me of a country garden in early summer. This is very gentle aromatic luxury.

Palate:
A quite deliciously creamy mouth-feel, big on fruity wood and a suggestion of nuts.

Finish
: Long, wood, slightly dry.

Overall Impression: An excellent whisky.

 

   

 

  Dunglass Dunglass was an experimental peated version of Littlemill produced sometime during the late 1960's but was very short-lived. It was primarily used for blending and never officially released as an OB, however just a few expressions have been released by independent bottlers.    
   

Moon Import, Dunglass,  distilled 1967

The Animals series, Cask 8447-050

Original cost of this bottle; Unknown

 
 

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Yellow gold

Nose: Some fruitiness with a very slight hint of smokiness in the background but this smokiness soon fades to leave a suggestion of rich tea biscuit.

Palate: Definitely a suggestion of biscuit but unlike the nose it's sweeter, more like a shortbread with raisins. There's also a hint of something mildly perfumed or floral, perhaps like rose water.


Finish
: Short.

Overall Impression: I'm so lucky to have finally tried a Dunglass but I wish it had just a little more character and more peat.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

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