Little Brown Dog Glentauchers 2013 & Little Brown Dog Royal Brackla 2011 13yo

Little Brown Dog Glentauchers 2013 Pineau des Charentes cask finish

Region: Speyside

ABV: 58.9%

Price: £83.50

Distilled on 27/05/13 and reracked on 28/07/23, this whisky was bottled on 11/07/2024 after nearly a full year in a Pineau des Charentes barrique. A total of 285 bottles were produced.

Nose

The nose opens with grape must, baked apples in shortcrust pastry, some earthy red wine-like tannins, pink grapefruit, fuzzy peach skins, artificial lemon juice and seeded wholemeal bread. It's quite a musty nose, the year long Pineau finish has really imparted a unique aroma. Time and air brings out some balsamic vinegar, crushed raspberries and a handful of dried apricots. It's not overly sweet on the nose, there's a nice balance of earthiness, sour and sweetness.

Palate

The palate has a mixture of saltiness and sourness up front, like salted plums, apricot jam, some ginger spice along with a dash of ground black pepper. It's quite warm, but there's a lot of flavour coming through to combat this. We're also finding toffee crisp bars, some buttery popcorn and a little aerosol spray. The mouthfeel is ok, and the finish leaves a lot of vanilla and peach lingering, with a touch of cask char.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose amplifies the fruitiness of the dram, alongside bringing out lots of soft vanilla aromas. There's still an earthiness here for us, but overall the nose is sweeter with buttery pastry, creme brulee, tinned peach and sweetened lemon zest. We prefer the nose with a dash of water.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has more wine influence on the initial palate, it feels richer, slightly more bitter but in a dark chocolate way. We're also getting more warm cookie dough and buttery shortcrust pastry. The heat is still here, even a liberal splash of water hasn't done too much to tame the spice.

Conclusion

A dessert wine finish that adds a lot to a dram without making it sickly sweet. It's got quite a few different dimensions up front, but then settles into a lovely vanilla and peach finish. It's a tad hot though, lots of peppery, gingery heat which throws it off a touch. We'd definitely have another dram, so we'll go with 7/10.

Score: 7/10

Value

Seems a little bit pricey, but LBD typically sets competitive prices, so we assume the higher cost is due to the cask finish.

Little Brown Dog Royal Brackla 2011 13yo

Region: Speyside

ABV: 57.4%

Price: £82.00

This release was filled into a European Oak Sherry Hogshead on 04/06/11 and bottled on 11/07/24. A total of 253 bottles were produced.

Nose

The nose opens with lavender soap, it's a lot more floral than we expected. We're also finding strawberry squash, well, summer fruits squash, some guava, passionfruit and sherbet. It's very soft on the nose, not in a bad way, in a really balanced, integrated form. For being 57%, the alcohol is very mellow on the nose. Time and air brings out some biscuit aromas alongside golden syrup oats.

Palate

The palate brings out red fruits, currants, cherryade, macerated strawberries, alongside some richer, oakier flavours. There's some orange peel, pith and candied walnuts too. The alcohol is a bit more prominent than on the nose, but it's still in good balance, and the finish lingers for a good length, mostly with cocoa powder, maraschino cherry and a little dry oak. The mouthfeel is also pretty syrupy. Time and air brings plum jam and a bit of ginger spice that begins to linger into the finish.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has a little more acidity showing at first, like sour cherries, moving into balsamic glaze, a little blackcurrant, and fabric softener. Not much change otherwise, the alcohol is still in great balance and the nose is still a joy to sit with.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate maintains a lot of sweeter, fruiter flavours up front, with the bitterness we experienced on the latter part of the palate turning into more of a coffee and dark chocolate note. The mouthfeel and finish are generally the same, maybe a little more honeyed, syrupy sweetness overall. We're enjoying this more with a splash of water.

Conclusion

A beautifully soft, balanced nose, full of fruit and malt, moving into a richer, spicier palate, but maintaining a great balance. To be honest, we prefer the nose to the palate as there's a bit of bitterness that throws it off slightly, but there's lots going on and we can't deny that it's a very good quality dram.

Score: 7.5/10

Value

We do wish it was a bit cheaper, but the fact that it is fully matured rather than just finished does ease our concerns somewhat.

• 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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