Scotch Whisky Review #251: Daftmill Summer Batch 2006 USA Edition

Distillery: Daftmill

Region: Lowland

Age: NAS. Distilled in 2006, bottled in 2019.

ABV: 46.00%

Price: Sample courtesy of /u/theagavefairy

Cask Type: 1st Fill Bourbon Barrels

Color: 0.4, Jounquil/Ripe Corn.

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Nose: Lots of lemons up front. It’s on the sweeter side. Sweet Meyer lemons are the first thing to pop through, then a lemon candy followed by a really lovely lemon tart. There’s some fresh herbs to go along with the lemon, rosemary comes to mind. Underripe pineapple makes an appearance along with powdered sugar.

Palate: It’s quite buttery and rich, in contrast to the nose. It’s like biting into a really well made graham cracker crust. There’s a hint of lemon zest along with icing sugar. Malt biscuits come in with the tiniest traces of nougat and dragon fruit to accompany it.

Finish: Medium in length. There’s more of the lemon zest and malt biscuit along with some herbal notes.

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Conclusion: I’m not sure I could have picked a better whisky to welcome in some warmer weather. This release from Daftmill is almost like sunshine in a bottle and not just from the color! It smells of summery cocktails with all of the lemon, light herbs, and bit of pineapple. The palate surprises you starting off with a rich graham cracker crust before giving way to little bit of refreshing fruit. The finish follows along with that refreshing nature with more lemon zest and the herbal notes. This very good and one I had more of. Would I buy a bottle? It’s quite pricey, but it’d be on the list of things I’d buy if money were no object.

Final Score: 84.

Scotch Whisky Review #251, Lowland Review #9, Whisky Network Review #386

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.