Littlemill Distillery

Littlemill Distillery sat on the border of the Lowlands and Highlands at Bowling in West Dunbartonshire. Littlemill Distillery claimed it was founded in 1772, which if validated would make it the oldest whisky distillery in Scotland. The aluminium-coated copper pot stills used rectifying columns instead of traditional swan necks to allow greater control over the distillation process. The Littlemill Distillery was dismantled in the 1990’s and lost to a fire in 2004.

Releases from this much lauded lowland distillery are highly sought after. Their 21 year old single malt whisky in its distinctive black pot still bottle and black constructed casing was a favourite of collectors far and wide. We were fortunate to have some of the very last bottles of this Littlemill Distillery first release, bottled at 46%, for sale on our website in late 2013.

We have been patiently awaiting the second release of this fine 21 year old single malt whisky and were over the moon this week to have been allocated a quantity – this time bottled at a slightly more robust 47% abv.. Predictably, within hours of featuring the whisky on our website it was all sold out. We are hopeful of getting our hands on a very small quantity in the near future – watch this space.

As a young schoolboy I used to pass Littlemill Distillery on the train twice a day as it travelled through the village of Bowling in West Dunbartonshire. Needless to say, as a 13 year old schoolboy I paid the distillery and its environs no attention at all. I now wish that I had.

Sadly lost to a fire in 2004, the Littlemill Distillery has since been demolished and housing constructed in its place. I was last in the buildings of Littlemill Distillery in 1995 when it contained small offices which were rented out to local businesses. I recall even then the premises having a serene atmosphere, although the only remaining tell tale signs of the building having been a distillery was the whitewashed out “Littlemill Distillery” sign on the road-facing facade of the building.

It’s sad that the revered Littlemill Distillery is no more.