Littlemill Batch 1 (TBWC)

That Boutique-y Whisky Company dresses its small-batch releases in comic-strip labels, a playful arm of the Atom group. This Littlemill was bottled in 2014. Nothing new will ever come from Bowling, which makes survivors like this increasingly hard to find.

From ex-Bourbon, its years draw out Littlemill's gentle, grassy make.

Bottled at cask strength, 47.4%, vanilla rises from the ex-Bourbon over the soft fruit. The Lowland softness shows, floral and lightly fruity. Oak lactones and lignin-derived vanillin build the vanilla-and-coconut signature, the gentle American-oak tannins keeping it soft.