We were joined by Andrew Smith, @lbdspirits’ head of spirits, yesterday evening at @noalounge.singapore, as he illuminated us with stories of how Little Brown Dog Spirits came to be, the inspiration behind its name (which came from Andrew’s wee dog, Banksy), and of course the amazing spirits in his range.

For those not familiar with LBD Spirits, these folks are more than just independent bottlers, being gin distillers too, sourcing most of their botanicals directly from the surroundings of their distillery in Aberdeenshire. I very much enjoyed the gin, which was well balanced, bright and fresh, with a good mix of botanicals that helps temper the juniper notes, and if I may, even a slight hint of a maritime breeze that introduces a slight saline note to the liquid too. The #projectNEGRONIDEFINITVO vermouth cask-aged gin was spot on too, with just the right amount cask influence that introduces the tannins and a bit of dryness coupled with the vermouth notes, and undoubtedly works well in a negroni.

Of course being from Scotland would mean them bottling scotch whiskies too, where we tasted the Drookit Dug, a 2011 blended Scotch (although I am convinced there is liquid far older than 12 years in there) from two distilleries, one from the Highlands and one from Speyside, aged in refill sherry butts, as well as the Dalrymple 2012 (which is quite certainly a single malt) from a first fill Oloroso sherry butt. And of course, there was too an extra special dram of the LBD “Extra Value Range” which is a single cask from an unnaMed Speyside distillery, aged for 13 years in a sherry butt which I’d say is a sumptuous and perfect evening dram, one to savour after a long day in the comfort of armchair.

There were two interesting rums in the lineup too, one that came from the same batch of 2008 Jamaican rum blend released by a number of bottlers across Europe, from the Long Pond, New Yarmouth, Clarendon, and Worthy Park distilleries. This one by LBD was perhaps my favourite, only because it was rather tame when compared to its sister casks, being rounder around the edges, creamier, and slight softer in general.

I do wonder if that softness may have been in part because of the additional three years of aging in LBD’s own warehouse in Aberdeenshire. The second rum was a fun and experimental one, a blend of column still “Spanish-style” rums from Panama, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, each aged 8-15 years in ex-bourbon casks, before being finished in an ex-maple syrup cask. Undoubtedly the rum came across slightly sweeter and rounder because of the maple influence, but as an experiment I thought was rather fun, and you could still get the rums’ character coming through on the palate.

Last but not least was a very unique 2016 Calvados from the Christian Drouin distillery in Normandy. What makes this single cask extra special was the fact that it was pays d’auge (double pot distilled) and aged entirely in an ex-white port cask, which gave this relatively young calvados lots of depth, intensity and flavour, and an absolute joy to taste. Thank you Andrew and @spirited.sg for hosting such a great tasting session!

Image Courtesy of @weixiang_liu