Daftmill 2011 Summer Batch Release

Yes, it is delicious, a summery whisky, exBourbon in its purest form, well crafted. All in all, an excellent drinking whisky.

Uber-fruity and dangerously drinkable - very good!

the texture is rich and velvety—just the way I like it. This provides structure on the palate and helps preserve the depth of flavors. A true concentration of cereals strikes the taste buds, with a slightly powdery feel and fresh almonds. Vanilla plays its part beautifully, extending into an elegant and lingering finish.

Tried from a 2cl sample during Whiskybase’s May 2026 online Daftmill Tasting

Great, fresh, clear Daftmill

5cl Sample: Mango, apricot, and lemon curd on the nose, so it's rather light and fruity. The citrus notes are also dominant on the palate, along with a hint of honey and a sweet malt that lingers for quite a while. A hint of oak initially lingers in the aftertaste, and this and a slightly malty, almost perfumed note linger. I like the aroma even better than the taste. A summer release, and a really good fit for summer. Good whisky with a tendency toward improvement, but the flavor isn't very complex; there's room for improvement. The price is certainly quite competitive, even though the quality is definitely there.

A decent dram! Pineapple, vanilla, malt, muesli, grapefruit

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2026/10/27/brighton-whisky-weekend-2026-afternoon-session/ C: From a distillery with an output of around 100 casks a year, this vintage represents 27 [first-fill Clermont Springs ex-bourbon] casks. It’s the least convincing of the Daftmill’s I’ve tried thus far [a mere 15], though retail prices have softened to around £105, with bottles available from plenty of places.

Now this is black currant . Very well integrated sour notes red berries. Very fruity.

A beautiful, summery bottling. It's very crisp, full, and invigorating.

Floral and fruity, oily, smoky at the end, good texture, slightly low cost performance

Quick hit review. Daftmill tasting with Francis Cuthbert. Tasted side by side with Daftmill 2010 (WB227709) - we have the same cask type, but a slightly different result. On the nose, white peaches, green apples and mild pepper give way to grassy notes, vanilla and hints of toffee. Lemon zest, grapefruit and ginger kick off the spirit-driven and feisty arrival before it turns slightly herbal and honeyed in the development. The fresh and citric aftertaste lingers with more grapefruit, green tea and a touch of mint. Although still pretty good, this bottling is a notch behind the previous winter batch release. RATING: 3.9/5.0 stars ≙ 86 pts → FIRST-CLASS [-]

The nose is on lemons, chalk fresh cut grass. If you leave it in the glass a bit a steady backbone of mineral smells emerges. On the palate the chalk takes control along with lots of vanilla and the oak really makes itself known. The finish is on lemons and oak. This is good whisky, but not as good as previous versions of Daftmill that I tried. This is less complex and tries to veer into a highland style that it cannot quite pull off.

Nose: coffee, cocoa, chocolate, citrus, pear peel, almonds Taste: Alcohol well integrated, spicy, fresh, cloves, a bit dirty but interesting. Overall well done, but at that price I'm out.

Remarkable Distillates, 27Dec2024: Kilkerran 8yo CS#2 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/104377/kilkerran-08-year-old 87+ Ardnamurchan 10yo AD/10 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/261836/ardnamurchan-ad10 87- Daftmill 2011 Summer Batch Release https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/248665/daftmill-2011 87+ Daftmill 2010 Cask Strength https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/196457/daftmill-2010 87- Daftmill 15yo 2006 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/206405/daftmill-2006 89+ Bunnahabhain 2002 Wy Salted Caramel Flapjack https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/130819/bunnahabhain-2002-wy 87+

NOSE: Fruity with mainly white fruits. Some vanilla and a little cream custard. TASTE: Fresh, mildly astringent, fruity. Wrigley’s Spearmint.

Slow maturation, not suitable these days. I'm happy to wait. Go on like this! HI.

Sweet, banana, honey, vanilla in the scent. Soft scent, but definitely spicy. Taste in line with scent. Lots of sweetness, light freshness and little bitterness. Alcohol nicely packaged.

A classic Daftmill (if you can talk about ‘classic’ with such a young distillery????). Simply love it, lot’s of fruit, mango, peach etc., with that slight bourbon cask finish.

Very good again, but a little too grainy. Other batches were even better.

Vanilla, peach, pear, honey, pepper, ginger, candied lemon, bit of orange, almonds, pineapple, banana, definitely bourbon driven, fruity and fresh, really enjoyable

Nose Almond, marzipan The taste Ripe pear, vanilla, soft Very long finish

Aroma-Moderate；Palate-86/100; Aftertaste-Medium ；

I quite enjoyed this one, but I’ll also be absolutely honest: this is not my favourite Daftmill to date. Ok, my previous encounters are somewhat limited (think this is the fourth time I got to try it), but I can’t but feel this is overall perhaps too subtle, and I’m missing that rather bold and outspoken signature farmyard note here – the very reason why I was often left very impressed with Daftmill in the past

The nose is very aromatic, truly fruity. Apples, pears (orchard fruit). Citrus, grapefruit. Slightly exotic notes, banana. Woody, vanilla, slightly peppery, some grainy notes. Definitely marzipan. It smells like a warm spring day in June; I don't know how else to describe it. If you start nosing the whisky every few minutes, you'll discover something different each time, very layered. On the palate, a creamy texture, yet really more of the sweet fruit with a slight bitterness and peppery note. A beautiful dram with plenty of complexity, where the fruit truly takes center stage.

fruity summer dram.

Nose: The first whiff of this whisky takes you to a garden full of ripe fruit, where the scent of juicy pears combines with the subtle elegance of champagne. A gentle sweetness floats in the air. This fruity splendor tickles the senses. Taste: The first sip greets the palate with a gentle, pleasant mildness. A delicate hint of pepper follows, so subtle that it is little more than a memory of spicy spiciness. The impression of champagne and pear brandy remains constant and gives the whisky an elegant lightness. The alcohol is very well integrated. The finish is slightly dry and leaves a pleasant freshness. After 3.5 hours in the glass, it unfolds its full splendor, so balanced that it does not need water. A true companion for the warmest days of the year, which is both refreshing and seductive.

My first Daftmill. Not long ago I reviewed another Lowlands whisky, and in that review I pointed out that, in my humble opinion, Lowlands distilleries don't really have a middle ground: they either embrace a farm-to-bottle approach or a highly engineered one. This Daftmill is the prototype of the former, where every variable and decision is left to tradition and the local characteristics of the distillery. The label states: “The barey variety Publican was grown in the 43ac field and harvested by John and Sandy on the 28th & 29th August 2009. It was dried and stored on the farm to be malted in Alloa During summer of 2010.” This bottling practically screams: there is no room for human intervention here; this is simply what our barley fields produce when we distill them and mature the spirit in generic ex-bourbon casks. Take it as it is or leave it. In that sense, it reminds me a little of Glencadam. This is a surprisingly expensive whisky, and, much like Springbank, its price is supposed to be driven entirely by scarcity. As the label itself admits, they only fill around a hundred casks a year! Anyway, let's see what it has to offer: Nose: Bright, vibrant and farmy. Delicate, herbal vanilla and lots of fruits (mostly pears, lemons and apricot skin) give way to powerful and complex cereal notes (husky barley, barn, hay). Fresh, vibrant tropical notes, with unripe mango and candied pineapple, alongside some lemon oil and artisanal honey. Lots of grass too. In the background, very light buttery notes, rye whisky, olive oil, and even a hint of... locally produced grain spirit? Everything is wrapped in this hazy sensation of dry cereal, a mix of stale cornflakes and cornbread. Like walking through a field of sun-dried grain on a hot summer afternoon. It isn't the most varied nose, but what it does offer is of exceptional quality. Taste: Exactly what the nose promises, with no surprises. Light, cereal and fruity, lots of vanilla from the casks and fruits from the spirit. Oat biscuits, muesli, breadcrumbs, some dry soil and warm beer. Lemon candy, some industrial and artificial notes (teenage perfume?), along with yeasty, alcoholic grain whisky. Very herbal and grassy too, with rosemary honey, green tea and bay leaf. There are some odd nuances, like sunflower oil. Spicy towards the end, with white pepper and ginger. Overall, it feels like an artisanal spirit that has been tamed just enough to be presentable, but is still raw and alcoholic under the surface. Finish: More of the same, perhaps a little monotonous. Cereal farminess and sweet, artificial tropical juice. The most notable aspect is probably the grain whisky character that gradually takes over, reminding me of Irish whisky, with that unmalted barley wildness, almost boozy. The finish doesn't really feel like a 12yo whisky, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. A sweet, farmy, tropical, grassy, fruity and very honest cereal bomb. Extremely restrained and minimalistic, almost ascetic, and very complex if explored, yet absurdly summery and refreshing at the same time, perfect for the 40°C weather we're suffering through in Spain right now. Its whole philosophy seems to revolve around letting the raw materials speak with as little interference as possible, resulting in a very cereal-driven, very farmy malt that, despite its handmade character, is also rather elegant and, in a way, a little generic. Don't expect intense or eccentric notes; this isn't "farmy" in the way Springbank or Benromach are. This isn't “dirty farm” but... “clean farm”? It's undoubtedly a whisky that struggles to stand out, and whose strengths are easy to overlook. Personally, I didn't really begin to appreciate it until I was halfway through the bottle. All of its complexity comes from the specific cereal notes shaped by the barley itself, the harvest, the farm, the soil, and the highly idiosyncratic farming practices behind it. As a result, it doesn't really resemble other whiskies that also emphasize cereal notes, such as Arran 10 Arran Barley or Bruichladdich's Islay/Scottish/organic Barley and Port Charlotte expressions, even though I have to use the same adjective ("cereal") to describe them. In my opinion, it's much closer than I expected to Lochlea (so if you can't justify the price of one of these bottles, Lochlea is an excellent substitute) and to an Irish farm-to-bottle whisky called Ballykeefe. The slightly industrial nutty notes remind me of Balmenach, the grainy and restrained character of Roseisle or Tullibardine, and the bready, beery notes of Ben Nevis. But, again, this isn't really a very complex whisky. Its personality lies in the details, and the first impression it gives is one of extreme restraint and minimalism. The price is, in my opinion, completely ridiculous. Yes, it's a great whisky, but it simply isn't worth more than €50, despite costing three times that amount... and this is their entry-level bottling. The 15yos and cask strength releases are even more absurdly priced. To make matters worse, and as countless reviews over the years have confirmed, it's a batch-dependent whisky, as you'd expect given its origins, which makes buying it fairly risky. For that reason, I'd personally recommend trying any ex-bourbon matured Lochlea before picking up this bottle. They're remarkably similar, yet Lochlea costs a fraction of what Daftmill does. I have little doubt that the future Lochlea 12 will be similar to this Daftmill 12. That said, there really isn't anything quite like this Daftmill. It's unique in its own way. TL;DR: A remarkably honest, light, summery, fruity, cereal-driven, farmy whisky that lets the raw materials speak with minimal intervention. Delicate, restrained and surprisingly refreshing, but subtle enough to require time to appreciate. Excellent quality, and actually unique, yet massively overpriced.

A decent whisky that made me want to go back for more - could quite happily sup my way through a bottle.

A truly superb malt in every respect, which scores highly with its lightness and freshness. The maturation in the bourbon cask suits it perfectly; for me, it's a prime example of a genuine Lowland malt!