Welcome to the next instalment of our regular Whisky Under Fifty reviews, where we review a different whisky (or whiskey) that you can buy for less than £50! If you’d like to know more about why we're doing this series, read our introduction post here.

In this edition of Whisky Under Fifty, we're looking at an indie blend. Here at the Dram Team we're big fans of independent bottlers and the terrific work they do. Little Brown Dog is one such independent bottler.

Little Brown Dog was founded by Dr Andrew Smith and Chris Reid in 2018. Based on Chris’s farm they combine a passion for their surrounding area with in-depth knowledge (that's code for intense geekery) of distilling and cask maturation. Andrew is the spirits geek and comes up with all their mad, but delicious, spirits. Chris is the practical one, who designed and built their distillery.

They take their name from Andrew’s beloved dog, whose nickname was the little brown dog. She followed him everywhere on all his distillery visits and was a constant companion. She passed away in 2022 aged 15, but lives on in spirit. Two more little brown dogs, Winnie and Peedie joined the team in 2020 and 2023.

Along with their gins and single cask whiskies, Andrew and Chris have released a very well priced artisan blend: Drookit Dug.

Little Brown Dog: Drookit Dug

Little Brown Dog's Drookit Dug is a blended Scotch whisky from two sherry butts with a high malt content. Andrew and Chris have called it drookit dug because the ABV has dropped a fair bit during maturation. So while it’s still cask strength, it happens to weigh in at a very approachable 43.6% ABV. 

Low ABV, heavy breathing, casks tend to be excellent whisky. Rather than achieving a reduction in ABV by dilution, casks that drop like this on their own have a great texture with no dilution of flavour and greater maturity.

This is just good honest sherried whisky. The kind of bottle to share with family or a few mates over a good old chin wag and a catch up

Tasting notes

Nose: Marmalade, bay leaves and candy floss.

Palate: Bread and butter pudding, Alpine strawberries and Turkish Delight.

Finish: Hot chocolate with marshmallows on toasting sticks.

Try this whisky if you like...

Independent blends with a big, bold, sherry character. You can pick up a bottle of Drookit Dug here for £45.

About the Dram Team

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Want to read more reviews and recommendations? Find our full Whisky Under £50 series here.