Little Brown Dog Wee Mongrel 52.3% ABV
Appearance: Deep amber/oak. Viscous, coats the glass nicely, with plenty of oily legs.
Nose: Such a great nose! Definitely cask strength, aromas jumping out of the glass! Immediate sherried notes, leather, oak, dark fruits and brown sugar.
As the glass matures the woody notes grow in strength. Sounds obvious but a lovely whisky soaked oak stave springs to mind. There’s a slight ‘wine cellar’ note too, as this has a lovely sweet side, as well as some more dusty and aged aromas.
As the glass matures further, the aromas evolve in more herbal tones, still the oak, and some menthol.
It’s one of the very few cask strength whiskies that manages to produce a strong nose, but at the same time, a friendly nose. A great first CS for those that may not have delved into higher ABV’s before.
Palate: Plenty of Christmas spice, warms the chest immediately. Some copper, icing sugar and those curly red cough sweets. Black coffee, bitter, slightly minted chocolate.
The end of the palate, just before the finish, turns herbal. Cut grass and fresh spearmint
Finish: The finish is mostly herbal, with spices and some traces of the bitter chocolate. There’s also a lovely nutty side to the finish. Spiced nuts in fact.
Overall: Insanely good whisky. Not just for the drinking experience alone, but the price, the bottle design and everything about it. Great work.
Little Liten Brun Hund Mackmyra 2008 49.8% ABV
Appearance: Lighter than the Wee Mongrel: Summer honey gold. Nice and oily again, good legs and glass coating
Nose: Very earthy, forest floor, woodland berries, fields of grass. There’s also the sweeter side in balance: Vanilla, confectionary sugar, possibly banana foam sweets too.
Again, as the glass ages, it evolves. More oaky notes now, creme brulee (or however you spell it!?) and bourbon’esque aromas.
Palate: Ooh, another one that’s spicier than the nose suggests. Black pepper and slightly drying. There’s sugar at the back too. Black liquorice now with a touch of mild chilli. There’s a butteriness to the palate, on arrival. Milk bottle top cream.
There’s a slight new make taste to it too, probably the juniper berries, it’s a lovely element.
Finish: The finish is buttery, slightly metallic (copper) and with a spice hint too, the mild chilli.
Overall: Overall a lovely and unique whisky. Love the earthy, forest notes and the slight heat. Cracking.
Little Brown Dog Arran 2011 60.3% ABV
Appearance: Lighter still. White wine. Nice and oily, looks crisp too
Nose: Forgot about the ABV, which is most definitely reflected in the nose! Wow, need time to acclimatise!
Tropical fruits galore! Like a cocktail on a beach. There’s also banana foam sweets, strawberry daiquiri, oak and leather….so far! Honey covered red berries, there’s also a nutty/coffee aroma now.
Palate: Grapefruit, pineapple, custard and some wood notes (the drying I believe).
There is a tingling (who mentioned that earlier). I think it’s just the ABV though, my mouth trying not to combust!
I really like this one, not for the faint hearted though!
Finish: The finish is sweeter than most whiskies of this amount of ABV. There is some heat but not much.
Overall: Another impressive whisky that I’m gutted I missed out on! #thewhiskeychaps
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