Little Brown Dog Aberdeenshire Single Malt Pre Production Preview & Little Brown Dog Secret Highland distillery 2011

Little Brown Dog Aberdeenshire Single Malt Pre Production Preview 

Region: Highlands

ABV: 46.0%

Price: £49.00

A vatting of 60 percent first fill bourbon and 40 percent sherry casks, the latter split between PX and Oloroso with a mix of first fill and refill wood. Distilled at Glen Garioch and bottled in 2025 at 12 years of age. This pre-production preview of 500 bottles is a sneak peek at what will become Little Brown Dog’s version of a core range bottling.

Nose

The nose opens with lots and lots of sweet pineapple - there's a slight artificial tinge to it, but it's quite vibrant, alongside some mushy mango, fruit pastels, sugar syrup and vanilla essence with a hint of shortbread in the background. It's very confectionery-led. There's also some darker fruits alluding to the part-sherry maturation in this vatting, blackberries and brambles. The alcohol is soft, a little tingly, but not overpowering. 

Palate

The palate opens with custard cream biscuits, pineapple jam, green apple skins, caramel wafers and some dark cooking chocolate as the palate develops. It continues along the confectionery led route, with a handful of Haribo Tangfastics appearing as the finish lingers on. Speaking of the finish, it's actually quite long, although a little thinner than we'd like - it's like the remnants of flavour are left rather than a fully fledged textural feeling. The mouthfeel is a tad thin, and there's a little spice coming through, more in the sense of cinnamon sticks and a coffee rather than straight alcohol burn. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has more upfront fizziness, alongside more of a vanilla and brown sugar sweetness. Some of the more tropical aromas have been lost and it feels a little simpler overall. It's not bad, we just prefer the nose without reduction.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate loses some texture, however still delivers lots of freshly squeezed lemon, shortbread biscuits, tinned custard and apple crumble. Like the reduced nose, it's not bad, but the dram doesn't need any water. 

Conclusion

A really well done small batch, and a great indicator of what's to come from Little Brown Dog's future signature single malt. We're self-confessed Glen Garioch lovers and this carries all the distillery DNA with enough cask influence to back it up. Very tasty whisky, pop the cork and throw it away.

Score: 7.5/10

Value

£50 to get a sneak peek of a very cool project doesn’t seem to bad to us.

Little Brown Dog Secret Highland distillery 2011 

Region: Highlands

ABV: 56.5%

Price: £75.00

A small batch vatting of two bourbon hogsheads, distilled on 8 June 2011 and bottled on 24 October 2025 at natural cask strength. The outturn was 480 bottles. It seems to be a closely guarded secret that this is, in fact, Clynelish.

Nose

The nose opens with soft orange peel, lots of waxiness, polished wood, a little chlorine, wildflowers and fabric softener. It's heavy on the distillery spirit, not overly sweet or fruity, more of a floral, waxy, lightly oaked profile. The alcohol is present but balanced, not jumping out the glass, and as we go back, we're finding some simple wood sugars and resin.

Palate

The palate opens with pear drops, kiwi, and a bit of background salinity - it's not salted caramel for us, but like a simple sugar syrup sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. It's oily, viscous and very mouth coating, with some pink peppercorn spice - slightly warm but not overwhelming for 56%+ ABV. The finish lingers for a good length with gooseberries and a little cask bitterness. There's also a lot of honey-led sweetness, honeycomb perhaps, it's like a drier, less chocolate-led crunchie bar, with a hint of copper in the background.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose is slightly mustier, grapefruit, caster sugar, wet oak and candlewax. Any alcohol spice has all but disappeared, however it feels simpler, like it's lost some character. There's a bit more citrus as you get deeper into the glass but we'd skip the water on this one. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate continues with the grapefruit, sandpaper, butter biscuits, and sparkling wine, it's become very buttery and biscuity. More of the cask character is coming through now, but it also feels a bit pepperier, perhaps some ginger too. A different profile, quite interesting actually.

Conclusion

A solid, spirit-led Highland dram, showing all of the waxy characteristics that this distillery is famed for. It's balanced, tasty and just well made whisky. Perhaps a little touch more cask influence would have brought more complexity for us, but that's really personal preference.

Score: 7.5/10

Value

We’re not going to complain about 14yo Clynelish for £75.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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