Littlemill has announced a new annual collection. The Cask Reflections Collection will explore the history of the now-lost distillery through its remaining casks.

Founded in 1772, Littlemill closed in 1994 and was lost to a fire in 2004. Michael Henry, master blender at Loch Lomond Group, which now owns Littlemill, has taken charge of the distillery’s remaining casks since the fire.

The collection’s inaugural release is Cask Reflections Release No.1. Aged 33 years, the whisky spent its long maturation initially in refill bourbon barrels before a four-month finish in Japanese mizunara oak casks.

Henry selected the Mizunara casks for the finish to amplify Littlement’s singnature summertime flavours. He said: “The Cask Reflection Collection will revive the spirit of discovery associated with Littlemill’s founding years and subsequent boom. We have worked to honour the liquid, enhancing its delicate Lowland qualities with the fascinating traits of the Japanese mizanura oak.”

Littlemill says that the resulting whisky is fragrant with notes of sandalwood spice, elderflower, and fruit. For Henry, the notoriously rare and challenging mizunara oak is a match to the Littlemill liquid in more ways than flavour.

He continued: “Mizunara oak takes time to grow and only yields a small amount of wood annually. Like Littlemill, it is rare. The staves are thick and porous, imparting flavour at a much greater pace, which requires my keenest attention and care to ensure the finish doesn’t overpower what would have been the distillery character.

“The stakes are high when you’re responsible for a liquid this finite, but the result is an exquisite start to this journey of Cask Reflections — one that I feel very fortunate to be able to undertake on behalf of those who came before me.”

In 2023, Littlemill began its four-part annual Vanguards series with a 45-year-old whisky celebrating Robert Muir, to whom the Littlemill distillery licence was first granted.

The whisky is bottled at cask strength of 49.1% ABV with natural colour. It is presented in a “Littlemill-style” decanter with a display box inspired by Japanese art.

Only 570 bottles of Littlemill Cask Reflections Release No.1 are available worldwide. It is available for purchase now via Littlemill and specialist retailers at RRP £3,800.