Daftmill OB 3 standard releases & 3 single cask sherry

[lincoln imp]

I am a fan of Daftmill, for 2 reasons, they waited 12 years to bottle their single malt which is something they should be applauded for and they make good whisky.

This is a mini tasting of 3 standard release at 46% and 3 single cask sherry offerings. Only brief tasting notes as I had tasted some of them before and this tasting would have been complete if I had had some bourbon single cask to try, but had none to hand.

I think bourbon cask Daftmill is probably closest in profile to Rosebank you can get, without it actually being a Rosebank.

Scores and brief tasting notes.

Regular releases, mix of mainly bourbon cask

2006/2018 winter batch release 46% First fill bourbon - 88/86/87
A nice lemon & honey nose with some grassy notes
Palate is sweet with icing sugar & white fruits
Finish is ok, pleasantly warming, needs to be a little longer

2008/2020 winter release 46% First fill bourbon - 86/90/89
The nose is not that expressive,
The palate is nicely honeyed, spicy and quite fat with it very nice
Nice finish, remaining sweet.
I thought I got the faintest hint of peat on the palate on this one but there is no peated barley used in the distilling process.
I am told that they might call it slightly peated in Speyside 2 -3 ppm but that is just the background phenols in the malt without any peat added, interesting?


2009/2020 Summer release 46% 3 bourbon & 1 FF oloroso 88/89/90
This has a zingy nose, lemon drizzle cake and cream is the order of the day here
Quite expressive
The palate is fizzy, buttery, white fruits and a slightly industrial quality to it, a bit dirty if you like., then a white pepper note, plenty of power for 46%
The finish is pretty long, remaining sweet, it is obvious that the single oloroso butt adds an extra dimension to this dram compared to its bourbon only siblings at 46% but it does not make it better.

Single sherry cask[/u]

2006/2019 cask 039 57.4% oloroso sherry cask 86/84/86
Strong sherry on the nose and the palate and perhaps a little sulphur is present?
There is a slight off note here that hampers your enjoyment a little, this is because it is bitter sherry, like tart black cherries taste.
The finish is pleasantly warming
Slightly higher score than last time.

2009/2020 cask 039 61.1% oloroso sherry cask
Nose lovely, palate lovely, finish very good , great balance with a little water, not quite as sweet as I remember. 90/91/91

2009/2021 cask 046 60.4% oloroso sherry cask 91/90/90
Rich sherry on the nose with a Bakewell tart note, black forest gateau cake, black cherries and a hint of raspberry.
Good vibrant palate and very fizzy, it attacks your tongue, what the nose hinted at is here, there is a creaminess about this but there is also a sharp attack from the sherry which really works
Dark fruits galore, but nothing tart here, just lush dark fruits.
Nothing out of place either on the finish, composed is the word.

Neat, the spicy sherry attack is really powerful and very nice.
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Pour me a glass please.