Daftmill 2010 Cask Strength (U.S. Release) Single Malt Scotch Whisky Review

The U.S. spirits consumer has never really had a great conception of the sense of scale that exists in the scotch whisky world. We see bottles on the shelf in the U.S. from various malt whisky producers in Scotland and think of them as all being on relatively even footing with each other, when in reality the businesses being operated by genuinely small and independent distilleries are almost impossible to compare to those owned by the actual giants of the industry such as Diageo, Pernod Ricard and William Grant & Sons. These distilleries are orders upon orders of magnitude different in size and capacity from each other, which has a clear effect on other factors such as the most obvious: The prices they need to set for whisky. When you get down to the smallest of the small, a company such as Lowland micro-producers Daftmill, you could argue that the making of whisky is hardly a true business proposition at all–it’s more like an artisanal pursuit where the prime goal is to simply generate enough revenue to keep the experiment going.

Daftmill is owned and operated by brothers Francis and Ian Cuthbert, and focuses on growing all their own barley on the small family farm the family has owned and operated since the 1980s. Whisky production first began in 2005, but Daftmill displayed extraordinary patience by not releasing any of their young single malts after they passed the three years required by law, instead waiting until they had a 12-year-old product. That first release came out in 2018, and in the subsequent years Daftmill has managed to become a cult sensation among scotch whisky devotees, beloved for its fresh, fruity and green flavor profiles. The price tags? They tend to be high, but the kind of consumer that cares about tiny batch scotch whisky doesn’t really care. Daftmill makes spirit specifically for scotch whisky geeks, and the latest U.S. release, Daftmill 2010 Cask Strength, is no exception.

This is the latest limited edition vintage from the family farm near the Scottish town of Cupar, being a 12-year-old single malt scotch whisky aged in an array of 15 first-fill ex-bourbon casks, distilled initially between January and July 2010. It comes from a barley variety called Optic, harvested from a mere three fields on the family farm. There are a total of 2,400 bottles of this cask strength release, which weighs in at a pretty stout 58.7% ABV (117.4 proof). It carries a lofty MSRP of $325 in the U.S., clearly delineating this release for the kind of collector who is particularly geeky about small farm distilleries and scotch whiskey terroir of specific regions, in this case the lowlands.

So with that said, let’s get into tasting this release, which will be the first Daftmill expression I’ve sampled.

On the nose, this is vibrant and fresh, while hiding its cask strength pretty well. Heavy honey is the first thing one can’t miss, along with vanilla cream, digestive biscuit and apricot fruit. I’m also getting something more like pear fruitiness, and a thread of fresh, sweet grassiness running through it as well. There are a good amount of sweeter impressions, though the overall intensity of the nose actually isn’t quite as strong as I would expect from a 117.4 proof, 12-year old expression. It’s just a little bit on the reserved side.

On the palate, this is a little bit more bombastic. The honey is heavy and almost syrupy here, with toasted biscuit and sweet grassiness/greener impressions simultaneously. It’s quite sweet overall, perhaps actually a bit much for some drinkers, but the sweetness is met by significant heat at the same time, both in terms of ethanol heat and spice in the flavor profile. I’m getting poached pears into lots of dry spice, which registers as a bit on the prickly side; hot cinnamon and mulling spices, and that spice note really lasts and lasts thanks to the proof. Some baked banana and toffee helps to round things out.

The whole thing reads as sort of “concentrated” in tone, in a way that I think I’m increasingly enjoying as I sip this. I imagine that at a lower, more standard proof point that Daftmill’s spirit would highlight the elegance of its grassier elements, but here it’s really thrown in more behind the sweetness and spice, which gives it a bit more desserty vibe. Those who appreciate sweet and spicy drams with solid heat will want to make a note of Daftmill 2010 Cask Strength.

Distillery: Daftmill
City: Cupar, Scotland
Style: Single malt scotch whisky
ABV: 58.7% (117.4 proof)
Availability: Limited, 700 ml bottles, $325 MSRP

Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident brown liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.