Since making this statement somewhere early in 2014, I’ve amassed a respectable little collection of Littlemill. Nothing over the top, but it should keep me going for the foreseeable future. Today I review one of the most interesting and maybe coolest Littlemills released in recent years. Right now it is the the fourth highest rated Littlemill on Whiskybase. But the story behind this bottling is just awesome.
As most of you know, Germany won the FIFA World Cup last year in Brazil. If you look closer at the label of this Littlemill, you can see a guy holding up a sign with the number 4 and a star. The guy is Max Lösch, and the sign stands for the fourth world title of Germany. Max is from Germany, and he and three of his friends were present at the semi-final (in which Germany whooped some ass, beating Brazil by 7-1) and the final. This particular Littlemill is to commemorate his Brazilian adventure.
Now there is the small matter of me, a Dutch guy, owning a whisky that celebrates the succes of our rivals from Germany. To that I say: who cares? I’m not a big supporter of the Dutch team anyway. I barely watched any World Cup-games. I’m more interested in the quality of this Littlemill, so let’s find out!
Littlemill 1992/2014 (52,7%, bottled for Max ‘Lexo’ Lösch, 185 bts.)
Nose: Lovely fresh, nice and fruity, slightly zesty and grassy. Pineapple, melon, freshly cut apple, underripe banana and citrus fruits. Grainy and sweet porridge with a whiff of nuts and a minor farmy quality. A very recognizable Littlemill-profile.
Taste: Grainy, cereals and more citrus fruits. A nice bitterness I associate with pink grapefruit. Also pineapple, vanilla, some peach and a hint of smoke. The tiniest amount of mint is in there as well.
Finish: Grapefruit, grainy, pineapple and pear. Lingers for a very long time.
Rating: 91
When I saw all the high ratings for this Littlemill, I figured they were coming from opportunistic Germans, rating this whisky a couple of points too high because of their victory in the World Cup. But I’m a believer now. Max Lösch has chosen an excellent cask. The best Littlemill I’ve had so far.
