Daftmill 2009 15 Year Old Aqvavitae Small Batch & Daftmill 2011 13 Year Old Sherry Cask RMW Exclusive #96

Daftmill 2009 15 Year Old Aqvavitae Small Batch

Region: Lowlands

ABV: 55.0%

Price: £175.00

First up today, we have a small batch Daftmill bottled by Aqvavitae—a blend of two first-fill bourbon casks (#053 and #055), filled in winter 2009 and bottled in February 2025. The outturn yielded 362 bottles.

Nose

The nose opens with a burst of sweet, juicy fruit, we’re getting apple flesh, pineapple rings, some soft peaches, a hint of orange peel and some sweetened vanilla cream. There’s a lovely fresh esthery aroma that creates the backbone of the dram, with the richer confectionery, caramel and fudge aromas, sitting nicely alongside it. Time and air brings more vanilla to the forefront, icing sugar, a little cream cheese frosting and apricot jam. The alcohol is present but not overwhelming, offering a mild spice that’s only really felt when your nose is deep in the glass. 

Palate

The palate opens with lots of stewed apple inside flaky puff pastry, dusted with a good helping of icing sugar. We’re getting more peach and nectarine as the palate develops into a fudgey, sweet finish. There’s a bit more of an alcohol bite on the palate, a little bit of candied ginger and black pepper, however it’s still pretty well balanced. The mouthfeel is nice, it’s got a caramel sauce like texture, and speaking of caramel, there’s a good amount of this coming from the bourbon wood, along side a few squares of dark chocolate. We’re also finding some limeade, a little quinine, and chewy toffee - it’s a fairly chewy, textured dram. There's also a bit of earthy rhubarb in the background as the finish comes around again. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose feels a little creamier, with tinned custard, peaches in syrup, lemon water and some shortbread fingers. The alcohol has really subsided, there’s almost no spice in the background at all. We do lose some of the freshness and fruitiness, it’s definitely more cask driven now. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate loses a bit of texture on the mouthfeel, but maintains the sweet, fruity and creamy character we enjoyed before. In a similar vein to the reduced nose, the palate is now more vanilla, cream and custard forward, and the spice has mellowed somewhat, although there’s still a peppery kick on the finish. 

Conclusion

A very very good Daftmill indeed. We generally prefer younger Daftmill but this is the best 15yo expression we’ve tried. Lots of spirit character, good cask integration, a nice balance of alcohol, bourbon Daftmill done right.

Score: 8.5/10

Value

The price is in line with the Daftmill 15yo cask strength.

Daftmill 2011 13 Year Old Sherry Cask RMW Exclusive #96

Region: Lowlands

ABV: 59.3%

Price: £160.00

This second single cask exclusive for RMW was filled on 18th December 2011 and bottled in January 2025, having spent its entire maturation in a sherry butt. A total of 638 bottles were released.

Nose

The nose opens with walnut paste, leather, clove spice, light tobacco, kafir lime leaf and prune juice. There’s some plum jam and a fair bit of ginger coming through.. it’s got a fair whack of spice behind it. Going back, we’re finding rye bread, well done caramel, pineapple upside down cake and a spoonful of cocoa powder. There’s not too much Daftmill spirit coming through for us, there’s a hint of the esthery, fruitiness right in the background but it feels quite covered up by the punchy sherry aromas. 

Palate

The palate opens with a mixture of sour candies, warm caramel, chocolate brownies, walnuts, coffee grounds, alongside a ginger and black pepper spice. The mouthfeel is decent, sugar-syrup like, and the finish does linger for a decent length with rich toffee, chocolate and a bit of leather. Going back, we’re finding cinnamon sugar, prunes, milky coffee and some oak tannins as the palate develops. The alcohol is fairly prominent, integrated to a degree but it feels a bit too warm. We’re also getting some Terrys chocolate orange confectionery - the dark chocolate variety.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has lighter, yet still rich sherry aromas coming through, more fudge, vanilla beans, raisins, chocolate coated peanuts and old leather furniture. It’s still quite warm, but the alcohol has definitely mellowed. There’s still lots of chocolate orange aromas appearing too. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate feels less aggressive, both sherry wise and spice wise, following the in the same vein as the reduced nose. It follows the fudge, vanilla, raisins and chocolate flavours, but again, we’re not finding that Daftmill character, except a bit of estheriness right in the background. It benefits from a drop of water, it tames the dram and brings it into better balance.

Conclusion

We’ll admit that we prefer Daftmill in bourbon vs. Sherry, and this isn’t a bad whisky - on the contrary it’s very good quality, but the sherry is too overpowering for us. It’s slightly unbalanced, alcohol wise, but there’s lots of sweet, nutty and rich sherry flavours and aromas that we enjoyed.

Score: 7/10

Value

In line with other single cask releases from Daftmill.

• 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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