Abbey Whisky Daftmill Exclusive

Hailing 'fae Fife' ourselves, being invited to select our very own single cask exclusive from this much revered distillery, located in the heart of the Kingdom of Fife was the "proudest moment" of Mike's life *(Married with 3 kids - don't worry it's been discussed and they understand). Here, Mike gives a little insight into the process involved in selecting the perfect AW Daftmill exclusive.

Locked away in a Daftmill warehouse, sampling casks of the finest Lowland whisky is perhaps the perfect way to spend a cold and wet December afternoon. You'd think it would be an easy job sampling so many casks of whisky but there's a lot of pressure involved. I'm not one to fixate on elaborate tasting notes when choosing a cask, over the years I've learnt to trust my instinct and keep it as simple as possible. First and foremost, I've got to fall in love with it. Sounds corny (and a little obvious) but it's true. Secondly, it's got to display all the hallmarks you'd expect from the distillery you're sampling and this single cask, in my personal opinion exemplifies Daftmill’s signature Lowland fruity complexity and everything that I believe to be (in my short experience with Daftmill) what Daftmill stands for.

A little bit about Daftmill Distillery 

Located in the Howe of Fife, Daftmill distillery is owned and run by the Cuthbert family. With brothers, Francis and Ian Cuthbert at the helm, the distillery produces whisky from barley grown on the farm and water from their own well - few distilleries can claim such provenance and such a hands on approach to distilling. Distilled on a seasonal basis in line with the farming calendar, the distillery can sometimes produce as little as 100 casks a year and currently holds around 1,000 casks of whisky maturing at the distillery. Granted a license on St.Andrews Day 2005, the Inaugural release was not until 2018.

 Abbey Whisky Daftmill Cask

All the casks we sampled on the day were tremendous, I could have chosen any of them but the cask that stood out was exceptional and fitted the profile we were looking for. Distilled on the 10th of December 2007, filled into single cask 043/2007, a first fill, ex-bourbon barrel from Heaven Hill distillery and matured for 12 years in cask. The result is divine, on the nose it gives a delicate yet complex hit of flavours, exactly what you'd want and expect from a beautiful Lowland whisky, delicate cereals, lemon sherbet bon bons, honey, ripe melon, hints of eucalyptus, limoncello, apples, pears, spiced peaches. So defined, so clear and so crisp in flavour. Mint, lychee and gooseberries.... I could go on all day. The palate has cinnamon, toffee, honey, orange bitters, nib of chocolate, lychee, boiled sweets, sweet pears. Spice. Heavenly...

When will the Daftmill AW Exclusive Be Available?

We'll detail further news on how our single cask will be released on Thursday 22nd October, via our social media channels.

We've been inundated with enquiries about this release and rightly so. We understand peoples excitement, however we're unable to reserve bottles prior to release as I'm sure you can understand, we want to make it as fair to everyone as possible.

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Slàinte