Littlemill launches next Private Cellar bottling

Silent Scotch whisky distillery Littlemill has released a 29 year-old bottling from its Private Cellar Collection.

Bottled in a bespoke Glencairn crystal decanter, the whisky is from the last surviving stocks of Littlemill, Scotland’s oldest registered distillery, which is not only closed but destroyed, having burnt down in 2004.

Just 600 bottles of the Lowland malt have been released in what is the third Private Cellar release from the surviving stocks, with the previous releases coming in 2015 and 2017.

Each decanter is etched with an illustration of the River Clyde and a silver star at the location of the old distillery at Bowling near Glasgow.

Master Blender Michael Henry said: “The latest expression in the Private Cellar collection helps to tell another piece of the Littlemill story. Littlemill has always represented the traditional Lowland ‘floral’ style, and over the years the distillation and maturation processes evolved to maintain this flavour profile.

““The original liquid was laid down in refill bourbon casks in 1990. Seven of these were selected and combined, then finished in first-fill oloroso sherry and Limousin oak casks. The oloroso sherry adds further floral notes, similar to the traditional sherry casks used at the Littlemill distillery, while the Limousin oak provides the European oak influence.”

Scott Davidson, Glencairn’s new product development director, commented: “We are truly honoured to have worked with Littlemill to design and create a decanter to encase such a special whisky. Getting to understand the distillery, its heritage and people has been a privilege, as has evolving the story into something tangible within the look and feel of the packaging and bottle. We are incredibly proud to be part of this special launch.”

Recently unearthed records show Littlemill’s original licence dates to 2 December 1773, which makes it the oldest licensed distillery in Scotland.

Littlemill was a leading Scotch distillery for two centuries under the Buchanan and then Thomas families until it fell silent in 1994. The old distillery was then destroyed in a fire in 2004.