Tasting Littlemill 22 year old by Kintra Whisky

Time to get back to the single casks collection by Kintra. Late 2011 I reviewed the excellent Laphraoig 13 year old which was all firecrackers and gunpowder, and I have a few more I will be reviewing early 2012. The first of which is a 22 year old  Littlemill, which I also the first Littlemill to be reviewed on Whisky Israel. Littlemill was one of the oldest distilleries founded in 1772 and operational until 1992. in 2004 the distillery was destroyed altogether by a fire. Not many bottling of Littlemill are out there and I was really glad to be able to try one of those at this time, and fill another “gap” in my whisky education. Having not had any previous expression by LM, I came without prejudice and expectations for a certain “distillery” style, which is the best way to tackle a new distillery sample, IMHO.

Kintra Littlemill 22 year old, 55.2% ABV, Bourbon cask

Nose: Ok, were in terra incognita here… Lots of coconut, ripe melon and sugar ,vanilla and wee spice. This is a very pleasant and enticing nose.
Palate: Viscous  and oily. first thing that hit me was big grapefruit sort of taste  , bitter-sweet with some  wood and a chilly edge to it.
Finish : Dark chocolate and blood  orange peel, which continues nicely those grapefruit notes, with a wee twist.

All in all this is a very unique and interesting dram, enjoyable and quite easy to drink. The nose is sweeter than the palate, with those lovely melon notes , and the palate is fresher with the grapefruit and sugars. A solid dram, from a not so common distillery.Worth a shot, definitely.

Score: 84/100

Official sample provided by Kintra Whisky.