Mathilda Malt: Littlemill 20 year old 1984 Scott's Selection

Surrounded by unpacked, half-unpacked, and unopened boxes in my new house, I have no idea where anything is. Except the whisky. Hell, I don't even know where most of the whisky glasses are, but the liquid, yes.

Each day I set a goal (with a smidgen of LOL) to accomplish one bit of unpacking. The kitchen is functional, and occasionally has a clear path from the fridge to the stove to the sink. My cat, Suzy Creamcheese, is terrified but does have a direct line from her hiding place, to her food, water, and litter box. My functional workspace is only occasionally cramped by drill bits, postcards, scratching posts, and a bucket of half-used toilet cleaner bottles. My TV exists.

But more importantly, my girls have their own rooms, which are momentarily clean because we haven't unpacked anything of theirs. My older daughter, Mathilda, turns 10 today. Yeah, I don't know how that happened either. But last night she and I had a fun picnic dinner on the living room floor, eating black bean tacos, followed by fancy chocolates I brought back from Paris.

As I've done every year of her existence, including the birth one, I poured myself a Littlemill after she'd fallen asleep. Not knowing where the heck my pipette was packed, and also due to the intriguing nature of this whisky, I did not dilute this Littlemill, even though it was bottled at 61.3%abv.

Distillery: Littlemill

Region: Lowlands

Independent Bottler: Scott's Selection

Age: 20? years (1984-2004)

Maturation: Oakwood casks (helpful!)
Outturn: ???

Alcohol by Volume: 61.3%

Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Oh, the nose is wild. It starts off very herbal and mossy, with a whiff of antiseptic. Then it gets a bit inky, with a current of naphthalene hovering behind. THEN comes the mango and grapefruit.

It's been a minute since I chewed on a dusty book cover, but here it is in the whisky's palate, along with tart kiwis and guavas. An industrial/metallic note meets up with moss and lemongrass. And, somehow, it works.

The finish gets a little sweeter than the palate, adding pineapple to the fruits, yet the tartness lengthens with each sip. An earthiness and pepperiness work their way in as well.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I'm quite taken by this Littlemill. It's from a completely different dimension than the 1984 Hart Bros bottling I had ten years ago. There's no way to compare it to contemporary single malts, most of which are heavily produced (much like music?). The Scott's (R.I.P.) whiskies were often left to be their own animals, for better or worse. For better here. This strange and delicious whisky was perfect for me in this strange and energizing moment in my life. Yes, an excellent Littlemill in honor of my big girl.

Availability - Secondary market, maybe
Pricing - ???, but it was less than €100 twenty years ago
Rating - 90