Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
This will be the first I’ve ever tried from Daftmill. I see there’s a lot of hype around them these days, but I honestly haven’t been able to tell if it’s because the whisky is awesome or if it’s marketing, importers, and flippers driving it all.
They’re very low-volume, producing about 1/10th of what Kilchoman does annually for instance, and I think most would agree Kilchoman is a pretty small distillery. That scarcity value appears to cause pretty high prices in the US market for sure, and flippers clearly love the stuff. Given the size of the distillery and the way they produce, I doubt there’s much they could do to increase production without significantly changing the result.
There’s a lot to dig about them, too. They’re very transparent, produce everything themselves, bottle and present the spirit well, etc. This is essentially what many of us want out of a distillery in these respects, which is great to see.
So I’m looking forward to these. Let’s see what all the fuss is about!
Tasted on 05/29/2022, neat in a Glencairn, water added later as appropriate. Pic pulled from Daftmill’s Winter 2007 page, linked below.
Daftmill 12 Year (2007) Winter Batch Release
Details on the Daftmill site. This one is a bottle for the US market.
Distillery: Daftmill
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Lowlands
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 12 years old. Distilled in 2007. Bottled in 2020.
Cask type: 1st fill bourbon
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 1,680 bottles.
Nose: tangerines, lemons, green apples, peaches. Mild, minty spice. Vanilla. Marzipan. Dry grass. A bit flora w/ time. Soft all around. With Water: even softer.
Taste: lots of sweet fruits; fruit salad. White pepper, mint, much more than the nose. Nice mouthfeel, viscous. Grassy. Vanilla. Soft. With Water: softer, thinner mouthfeel. Oops.
Finish: sweet fruit. White pepper & mint. Grassy. Oak. Medium-long on spice more than fruit, and grass. With Water: a bit more spice.
Summary: Okay, this is quite good. It’s a simple dram with just a few notes, but they work well together and are generally well balanced. It’s soft and subtle throughout, and with some time in the glass it develops some lovely floral notes that I like a lot. More spice on the palate than the nose for sure, with spice coming to dominate the finish. Water doesn’t help this one; a few drops and I felt like it disappeared into the glass. It’s an easy drinker to begin with and I don’t feel like it calls for water at all, so I’d skip it in future for sure.
Would I buy a bottle? no. It’s good, but not my favorite flavor profile and I doubt I’d seek it out.
Final Score: 85.
Daftmill 12 Year (2008) Winter Batch Release
Distillery: Daftmill
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Lowlands
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 12 years old. Distilled in 2008. Bottled in 2020.
Cask type: 23x first fill ex-bourbon barrels
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 6,000 bottles.
Nose: peaches, lemons, apples. Lots of vanilla. White pepper, cinnamon. Dry grass. Toast. With Water: more spice, a touch of leather.
Taste: fruit; apples, peaches, pears. Spicy, with lots of white pepper that builds over time. Thinner mouthfeel. Some grass. A touch herbal. With Water: same.
Finish: some of the fruit, but much more of a leathery, spicy quality. White pepper, oak. Dry grass. Malt. Medium length on mostly spice, a touch of fruit. With Water: same.
Summary: Again, quite a simple dram with just a few good notes. No real complexity to speak of; I keep going back thinking I might find something new, but nope. Fruity on the nose, but spicy on the palate and especially in the finish, and it’s all about the spice at the end. Feels like a disconnect between the nose and palate. Thinner mouthfeel than the 2007. Water doesn’t do much for this, pulling out smidge more on the nose but otherwise unchanged. I’d skip water again for sure.
Would I buy a bottle? no.
Final Score: 82.
Comparison
Order: 2007 > 2008
The 2007 is much better than the 2008 in my book. Better balance, a wonderful floral note, better mouthfeel. An easy pick between the two.
Okay, so, not gonna lie: I was expecting more. A lot more. These are reasonable drams, sure, but they’re surprisingly simple. Decent quality, but I can’t say that either bottle lives up to the expectations set by the hype. I’ll try ’em again in the future, but I’m not gonna go tattering after bottles at auction that’s for sure.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 