A new wintery Daftmill for the thirsty masses

Daftmill is one of the true farm distilleries of Scotland, only in production when all other work is carried out. So, even though the Cuthbert family could easily produce more of this delightful lowland single malt, they are nonetheless limited to some 65.000 litres per year. These days, the Islay based farm distillery Kilchoman already makes ten times more. It is all a matter of priority. Farming is the number one at Daftmill. Good about this is that the releases are consistent, as has been proven over and over with the Summer and Winter releases since 2018, when Daftmill stepped into the spotlight for the very first time. According to Whiskybase, 67 official releases (no independents) came to the market, with a truckload of single casks, some of them from sherry casks. I actually prefer the mellow, balanced, alcohol reduced batches to the raw cask strength versions, even though the 15 years old at cask strength was quite okay.

Daftmill 2011, Winter Batch Release, bottled at 46 % abv

Makeup: A batch consisting of 7500 bottles of whisky matured in first fill bourbon barrels. This entire batch was distilled in December 2011.

General impressions: This smells like the quintessential Lowland single malt whisky. Beautiful barley with whiffs of freshly cut grass, banana smoothie, lightly smelling peaches, and a very interesting hint of nail polish remover. At the moment, our streets here are covered with bright yellow leaves from the trees. You know, those that crack so nicely under your shoes. Warm, yellow autumn leaves. In short: lovely nose. The barley remains firmly in the centre of this whisky's character. But the palate is really like soft banana cream. 

There is more fruit and sweetness to be found here, green and yellow types. Incredibly refreshing. On the finish we get a nice dash of wood spice. I always like the wood maturation on these Daftmill releases, and this one is not different one bit. A whiff of lemon peel to finish it off.

Conclusion: Incredibly consistent over the years. If you liked last years’ expression, you will like this one too. It has not improved, nor declined. It remains a whisky you can count on. An archetypical lowland single malt. Now, if we could ask for some more realistic pricing on this beauty, we would be delighted.  

Score: 86 points

Got a question about this whisky? Or do you just want to say something about it? There is a contactform on the bottom of this page!  

Share this on your social media! - and check mine while you're at it :)