15/08/2017 A couple of drams for the Assumption of Mary

Littlemill 16yo d.1991 (53.8%, The Creative Whisky Company The Exclusive Malts, C#166, 251b): this was interestingly distilled on Burns Night 1991. Nose: hazelnut oil and drying mango peels, hazelnut paste (not that palm-oil-laden Nutella shite), apple pips, apple-cider vinegar, delicate wood varnish. In fact, the polished-wood note grows in intensity, although hazelnut paste remains the dominant. Whiffs of dunnage warehouse, with lichen, old wood, decaying apple. Next to show up is tinned pineapple gone off slightly, and mandarin peels. Mouth: a salad vinaigrette that combines hazelnut oil and apple-cider vinegar. This is rather acidic and nutty. It also has paint thinner and tinned pineapple gone slightly off. The texture, on the other hand, is milky. Finish: good balance of wood, hazelnut, very subtle fruit, discreetly tropical -- mango, likely, but the sample is tired, I reckon. No more of that tinned pineapple gone wrong, but pineapple is still there, in milk, this time -- think of rum-free piña colada. Past its prime, though it is still a good drop. 8/10 (Thanks for the sample, dom666)

Pittyvaich 20yo 1989/2010 (57.5%, OB, 6000b, b#5705): nose: grass and soft cheese rind that becomes almost waxy, if not quite halloumi-like. Perhaps waxy apricot. Spent candle wick, a fishmonger's -- woah! It smells of -- what is it? -- nail varnish in a bakery? White spirit in chocolate milk? A hint of smoke? Oddly, all the above seems to be there. White wine too (Riesling). Much later on, chocolate éclairs come through. What a roller-coaster! Mouth: soft and silky, it has the right amount of spice -- again, not unlike a Riesling. On top of that, varnish, macerated grapes, apricot stones, perhaps ivy leaves? No, softer than that... dandelions! Yes and the sap from their freshly-cut stems. Maybe it has a hint of chalk as well. Finish: long, with turpentine, hay, clay, white wine and macerated grapes. The finish is more simply fruity or wine-y, but that does not detract from the overall enjoyment. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, adc)