K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

TOP PICKS

• 1988 Littlemill 25 Year Old K& ;L “Exclusive Malts” Single Barrel Cask Strength Lowland Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($139.99)
  In the pantheon of closed distilleries, Littlemill definitely falls short of top-tier status. Collectors see names like Port Ellen or Brora and they get excited, even reverent about the possiblity of tasting Scotch whisky royalty. Littlemill, however, has never seen its reputation balloon in the new age of romanticism. It’s maintained a more working class status, while other lost distillery bottles continue to double and triple in price. This is fitting, however, when you visit the site where the distillery once stood. The hamlet of Bowling, where Littlemill once operated, has built affordable housing on the ghostly grounds. A bit of ruins still remain, but there’s nothing left to let you know of their importance other than a street sign that reads “Littlemill Place.” You would drive right by it without noticing if you weren’t looking for it, which is exactly the case with this 25 year old cask of Littlemill whisky. If you weren’t lo oking for delicacy and subtle nuance, you could drink this single malt down quickly and think it was cask strength Jameson. But the drinker who appreciates the pure malt flavors on the palate, the little hint of vanilla on the back, and the burst of richness that tickles the finish, will understand its merit. Littlemill will never be recognized like Port Ellen because its flavors and attributes aren’t obvious. This cask is a last gasp at greatness from a name soon to be forgotten; a good-bye gift to whisky lovers who long for the past.