Daftmill 15yo Fife Strength (2024)

Daftmill 15yo Fife Strength (2024)

Region: Lowlands

ABV: 56.3%

Price: £165.00

The latest release of Daftmill 15 was distilled in 2009 from Optic barley grown on the farm’s south fields. It was matured for 15 years in 19 first-fill ex-bourbon casks and one ex-PX sherry cask before being vatted and bottled at natural cask strength in December 2024. 

Nose

The nose opens with pear drops, vanilla custard, buttery shortbread, red apple skins and rye crackers. There's a bit of lemon and lime coming through too, in a carbonated drink style, slightly artificial, slightly sweeter than expected. There's also barley sugars, toasted white bread, and a bit of alcohol kick as you get your nose deeper into the glass. It's not as "Daftmill-esque" as we would have expected, it's missing some of the lighter floral and fruity spirit notes for us - it noses more biscuity and buttery.

Palate

The palate opens with more of those artificial lemon and lime soda flavours, a little bit more acidic, with a warm brown sugar sweetness underneath. There's also vanilla sponge cake with fondant icing, buttery pastry, appletiser, Sauvignon Blanc wine, all underpinned by a warm alcohol that's slightly raw at the end of the palate. The finish does linger for a fair while with mostly warm vanilla and lemon balm, and the mouthfeel is good with a real syrupy texture. It may be the knowledge that there's 5% PX in here, but we're also finding a handful of raisins scattered throughout the palate.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has much more fruit up front, and we're starting to see the Daftmill spirit come through. It's lighter, the richer, butterier and biscuitier notes have fallen away and we're left with orchard fruits, citrus and faint floral aromas. There's also a nice candy-like sweetness that appears after you let it sit in the glass.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has less upfront citrus, more pastry flavours, with the citrus coming through on the latter palate and finish. There's apple jelly, light cinnamon notes, with a bit of grapefruit peel and fudge too. The palate feels a bit simpler now, less going on, although the alcohol feels in better balance. We're left with a lemon sherbet note on the finish which has maintained its good length.

Conclusion

Not stereotypical Daftmill, but it's still a dram that we enjoyed. Lots of good bourbon cask notes with the tiniest hint of PX - but perhaps we're swayed by knowing the cask makeup up-front. The spirit does feel a little dominated by the cask, and the alcohol has a bit of a bite in places, but we can't deny that it's good quality whisky.

Score: 7/10

Value

It’s nice to see that this year’s release is still priced the same as last year’s bottling.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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