...where distraction is the main attraction.

Monday, October 7, 2019

Bea's Birthday Booze: Daftmill 2006 Winter Batch Release (2018)


I've been a parent for five years now, and it's fair to say I still don't know what I'm doing. But I do know that Beatrice Joy turned 2 years old yesterday. And she is very Two. She is brilliant and social and hilarious and beautiful and I'm tired y'all. Here's a smiley picture:


I'm consuming and reviewing three hundred special whiskies in honor of her birthday. Firstly...


Of all the new distilleries introducing their first products during this decade, there's only one I've been following, Daftmill. It's a teeny Lowland farm distillery run by the Cuthbert family. They've been distilling (using their own barley) since 2005, but only released their first whisky last year. Yes, you read that correctly. They had the audacity to AGE THEIR WHISKY FOR 12 YEARS before bottling it for public consumption. It's madness I tell you.

Since they do only 100 casks per year, they're going to remain micro for the foreseeable future. And that's great. Just beware, the demand has exceeded the supply.

Thank you to Doctor Springbank for opening a bottle and sharing!

Distillery: Daftmill
Owner: Francis Cuthbert
Region: Bow of Fife, Lowlands
Age: 11-12 years (December 2006 - 2018)
Maturation: 5 bourbon casks (074/2006, 075/2006, 076/2006, 078/2006, 079/2006)
Outturn: 1265 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 46%abv
Chillfiltered? No
Colorant Added? No

NEAT
There's lots of barley on the nose, along with grass, orange juice, pine sap, Cheerios, Frosted Mini Wheats and a hint of grapefruit. Breakfast on the farm. The palate is very worty. Barley with a quirky tangy edge. Also: jasmine, roasted almonds and an extra grapefruity IPA beneath a curiously sharp alcohol bite. Tangy floral yeasty wort in the finish.

DILUTED TO ~40%abv, or < 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Now there are baskets of grist from the mill in the nose, then smaller notes of maple, cinnamon, ground mustard seed and brown sugar. The gentler pleasant palate leads with the barley again, but now there's a honeyed sweetness to it. Subtle nut and flower notes. It finishes sweeter, less tangy and a little less floral.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
To my nose and mouth, this Winter Batch Release seems younger than its age but not in the usual "ugh why was this bottled?" sort of way. Instead, with barley and the yeast in the forefront and the oak in the waaaaaaaay back, this whisky shows off what we snoots mean when we say "Distillery Character". Though the power of suggestion may be in play, I think this feels like a farm whisky. Another few years of maturation wouldn't hurt, or maybe other small batches read more mature, but this is a good launching point. It's actual whisky.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - about 4x what it originally sold for
Rating - 84