Single Malt Whisky, Scotland/Lowlands

Nestled in the heart of Fife’s fertile countryside, Daftmill was founded in 2005 by brothers Francis and Ian Cuthbert, the heirs to six generations of farmers. Operating on a small scale—producing approximately 15,000 liters of pure alcohol per year—and a seasonal schedule (two months in the summer and two in the winter), this unique farm distillery grows and malts its own barley for their single malt. Produced with the concerto barley variety, this version was matured in an oloroso sherry cask from Bodega José y Miguel Martín. With impressive complexity and maturity, the flavor and aroma palette is filled with fruity, balsamic, floral, honey, chocolate and medicinal sequences whose masterful and wonderfully oxidative nature are undeniably authentic.

Nose : refined, concentrated. The aroma palette is deeply elegant, offering tertiary notes (apricot, porcini mushroom, chocolate), florals and spices (iris butter, curry), balsamic notes (pine, cedar) and rancio. With a lot of depth, it then develops increasingly roasted (coffee, cashew nut) and citrus (orange, mandarin) registers.

Mouth : lively, distinguished. In an explosive synthesis of the nose, the flavor palette is impressively fresh and delicate and reveals a very fine texture. At first refreshed by herbal infusions (sage, verbena, mint) and voluptuous honey and apricot flavors, the palate gradually becomes more dominated by chocolate and malt.

Final : full-bodied, ample. The balsamic and salty finish brings heady (geranium, carnation) and medicinal (mustard poultice) notes as well as root notes of ginger. On the retro-nasal olfaction, elegant apricot and chocolate tones recall the rancio found on the nose.