DAFTMILL 11 YO 2009 French Connections

Quantity limited to 1 bottle by client.

Lowland Single Malt, 60.6%, 70cl – Single Cask #28, First Fill Oloroso Sherry Butt
Limited edition of 630 bottles – LMDW Exclusive

Founded by Francis and Ian Cuthbert in 2005, the Daftmill distillery is located in the north-east Lowlands of Scotland. Equipped with a 3,000 litre wash still and a 2,000 litre spirit still, it produces the equivalent of roughly 100 casks per year. It was in May 2018 that the first bottles of a 12-year-old Daftmill were first released. Bottled at cask strength, this sherry-cask bottling has kept all the energy from the peak of its youth. Very ‘Lowland’, its palette of flavours and aromas is delicately herbaceous, intensely fruity and subtly floral. From its sherry-cask maturation, it has been nourished by other more exotic or drier fruits, and has taken on chocolate tones that bring lots of flesh and depth.

COLOUR
Topaz with orange tinges

NOSE
Rich, complex. With an impressive youthful expression (juniper berry), the first nose is nonetheless extremely mature. Fresh fruit (greengage plum, pippin apple) appear alongside drier fruits (fig, date, apricot) from the sherry cask ageing. Allowed to breathe, beeswax and walnut husk underscore the quality of a liquorice wood. Little by little, grains of malted barley start to appear, before the aromatic palette takes a far more exotic direction (passion fruit, kiwi).

PALATE
Full of energy and elegance. The spicy (star anise, ginger, clove) attack is also liquorice and herbaceous (tobacco). The sherry’s influence is highlighted by notes of roasted pineapple. The vegetal mid-palate reveals delicious flavours of stuffed courgette and absinthe. Gradually it becomes increasingly chocolate and roasted (coffee). Then, without any resistance, new exotic fruits (mango, persimmon, guava) make a less-than-subtle entrance.

FINISH
Long, silky. At the start of the finish, a few heady florals (lily, carnation, rose) and acacia honey play opposite forest floor notes (lichen, mushroom). A little later, red fruits (raspberry, red currant, wild strawberry) bring energy to a delicately woody after-taste. On the retro-nasal olfaction, barley grain, lime and aromatic plants (sorrel, bay leaf) appear together in perfect harmony. The empty glass is liquorice and slightly medicinal (mustard).