Littlemill 26 Years Old 1992 (Cadenhead’s)

Cadenhead's was founded in Aberdeen in 1842 and is Scotland's oldest independent bottler, now based in Campbeltown. This 26 year old Littlemill was distilled in 1992 and bottled in 2018. With the distillery demolished and no new spirit possible, every bottle is drawn from a pool that only shrinks.

Ex-Bourbon and twenty-six years round its buttery, honeyed Lowland style.

Bottled at cask strength, 50.9%, the American oak adds vanilla over the orchard fruit. It carries chocolate, citrus, dried fruit, a fragrant note, fresh fruit, a hay-like note. In the ex-Bourbon cask, lignin breaks down to vanillin for the vanilla note, while oak lactones lend a soft coconut sweetness. At this age the angel's share has done its quiet work: in humid Scottish warehouses alcohol leaves faster than water, easing the strength and concentrating the flavour.