With the exception of the almost extinct Campbeltown region, which can boast only three malt whisky distilleries, Scotland’s Lowland region tends to be the next most easily bypassed or forgotten of the traditional scotch malt whisky regions. Despite being the second largest region overall, after the Highlands, the Lowlands can’t boast a great density of distilleries like Speyside, the Highlands or Islay. Rather, there are only nine active distilleries in all of the Lowlands, and many are producing grain whisky for industrial blends, rather than true single malts. Only a handful of names, such as Auchentoshan, Glenkinchie, and Bladnoch keep that flag flying, and preserve the idea of “Lowland single malt” as a distinctive concept. Now, however, there’s a new player in town: Daftmill.
Daftmill is a young distillery by any kind of Scottish metric, and released its first two malt whiskies (each 12 years old) in 2019 to much interest and high prices. Initial releases from any new Scottish malt distillery tend to fetch very high prices, especially on the secondary market, thanks to the assumption that they’ll be valuable collector’s items down the line, which explains how the MSRP of Daftmill’s first batches manages to sit at $250. Each of the first two batches of Daftmill 2006—the distillery uses vintage years, rather than regular age statements—was in a small run of around 1,680 bottles, presented at 46% ABV (92 proof). The brand says it “takes farm-to-bottle to a new level as one of Scotland’s true farm-distilleries,” noting its “estate-grown barley farmed by Francis Cuthbert in Fife, Scotland.” Daftmill 2006 was aged entirely in American first-fill bourbon casks.
What does all of this tell us? Well, This is a new brand that is attempting to immediately position itself as a highly artisanal, premium product, reflecting the terroir or the Lowlands, carrying itself with a certain sense of gravitas. These first batches, certainly, reflect the culmination of more than a decade of labor, so any time a new distillery “comes of age,” as it were, it’s a noteworthy event. So let’s get to tasting and see how they did.