Daftmill 2010 Summer Release (Released 2022) & Daftmill 2008 Summer Release (Released 2019)

Daftmill 2010 Summer Batch Release (2022)

Region: Lowland

ABV: 46.0%

Price: £96.00

This particular release was distilled in 2010, matured in 1st fill bourbon barrels, and bottled in 2021. 6,250 bottles were released early in 2022.

Nose

Initially we’re getting watermelon, appletizer, strawberry sorbet, freshly mown grass, lemon rind and poached pears in off-dry white wine. The nose is incredibly floral and fruity with a nice balance of sweetness without too much alcohol coming through. There’s also a little lightly toasted bread aroma coming through from the background.

Palate

Palate opens with jelly fruit cups, concentrated orange juice, sherbet, and watermelon. It’s a really juicy fruit salad drizzled in simple syrup. There’s a touch of oak in the background that joins up well with the alcohol and the finish is nice and long with more of a vanilla, cake-like sweetness coming through. This is a breakfast whisky if we’ve ever tasted one.

Nose (with water)

With water the fruit has receded slightly and some of the more toasty, cereal notes are showing more prominently. There’s a lightly baked sponge cake with orange syrup, and maybe a little fresh rosemary too. It’s still really easy going, just with a richer nose than before.

Palate (with water)

Now it’s much drier, some wet oak, there’s some fruits here but they’re darker, think blackcurrants and blackberries. The alcohol is a bit more powerful and we’d say that it’s detracting a little from the lovely fruity flavours.

Conclusion

What a nose, you could happily sit with this for hours without needing to take a sip. Its light, fruity, floral and sweet, and the palate delivers the exact same. Then we added water… and killed it. It lost a lot of the balance that it had and the alcohol and oak took over. Saying that, it’s still very very good and possibly one of the best Daftmill’s we’ve tasted.

Score: 8.5/10

Whisky: Daftmill 2008 Summer Release (Released 2019)

Region: Lowland

ABV: 46.0%

Price: £96.00

This 2008 release is a marriage of 7 first fill bourbon casks bottled at 46%, with just 1,780 bottles available in the UK.

Nose

Lemon and lime, a little zingy apple. There’s almost a light smoke to it, but not peat, more vegetal. There’s a nice creaminess, vanilla pastry and some icing sugar. Going back, we’re getting a maltiness, barley sugars and custard cream biscuits. There’s more alcohol on the nose than we expected, it’s maybe a little out of balance for us. Overall it’s a simple yet pleasant nose, highlighting the spirit and the bourbon cask well.

Palate

Light and fresh on the palate, apple and ginger cake, some orange juice, chantilly cream and poached pear in white wine. It’s got a reasonable alcohol bite for a 46% whisky, it’s a little more aggressive than we’d like. Going back we’re getting coconut and a slight herbaceousness. The mouthfeel is thinner than we’d like, and the finish is medium length with a little mint coming through. Like the nose, this is clean, refreshing and pleasant, but not blowing us away yet.

Nose (with water)

It’s more bready now… freshly baked morning rolls. We’re getting some strawberry jam spread on a crumpet with a dollop of fresh clotted cream. Some of the oak is peeking through too, giving it a richer, woodier aroma. Going back we’re getting some pistachio and more orange essence, maybe tangerine?

Palate (with water)

With water we’re getting cereal flavours and honey. The alcohol has been tamed by the water and melds better into the cask flavours now. We’re really getting more of the orange now, both zest and pith. It’s like the orange juice you’d have with your breakfast.. yep, we’ve said before and we’ll say it again it’s really a breakfast whisky.

Conclusion

Not our favourite Daftmill, we feel it’s a little flat on the palate and a touch out of balance with the alcohol, yet it’s a perfectly pleasant dram. One to reach for in the mornings or as the first dram in a longer tasting lineup. It’s probably a good one to introduce whisky to your non-whisky drinking friends. For us we’d prefer something a little more complex, but we’d take another dram.

Score: 7/10

• 10 - Perfection. A whisky that we’ll remember forever.
• 9 - Amazing. We’d pay through the nose for a bottle.
• 8 - Great. Pick this up at RRP.
• 7 - Good. Happy to have a dram or two but wouldn’t buy a bottle.
• 6 - Passable. Would accept a dram, but wouldn’t seek it out.
• 5 - Poor. Would drink if it was the only option.
• 4 - Bad. Maybe it can be saved by ginger beer?
• 3 - Awful. It can't be saved by ginger beer.
• 2 - Pour it out
• 1 - We’ve never tried a whisky rated this low and hopefully never will.

If you’re curious here’s our current ranking of the Daftmill releases we’ve done for the blog ignoring prices:

1. Daftmill 2010 Summer Batch Release (bottled 2022)
2. Daftmill 2008 The Whisky Bars of Scotland
3. Daftmill Unofficial Fans Group Bottling
4. Daftmill 2009 Summer Release UK (bottled 2020)
5. Daftmill 2008 Summer Release (bottled 2019)

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