Daftmill Summer Batch 2013

 
THE HOLY SPIRITS VIEW
Daftmill only distils during short breaks in the farming calendar, whenever the work allows, and won't release a drop before ten years in cask. This 2013 Summer Batch spent thirteen. Just 3,775 bottles, each carrying the Cuthbert brothers' printed signature. Scotland's most quietly coveted seasonal release — and one of the last true field-to-bottle distilleries left.
THE DISTILLERY
Daftmill sits in the Howe of Fife, converted from the Cuthbert family's old mill buildings in 2005 — sixth-generation farmers who reckon they're only the third family to have worked this land in a thousand years. Francis and Ian distil in two short breaks in the farming year, a summer lull and a winter one, whenever there's less to do around the farm — a rhythm unseen in Scotland since the 1800s. All the barley is grown on the estate itself.
THE WHISKY: 2013 SUMMER BATCH
Concerto barley, grown in Daftmill's own South fields, harvested September 2011, malted the following spring in Alloa. Distilled that summer, matured thirteen years across fourteen first-fill ex-bourbon barrels on the upper dunnage level, then bottled in June 2026 — 46% ABV, natural colour, non-chill filtered.
TASTING NOTES
Barley sugar, buttery shortbread straight away, porridge oats settling underneath, tinned peach, a green herbal touch running through the floral top notes. Custard and vanilla creep in with air, ginger, cookie dough, ripe melon, orchard fruit — sip after sip there's something new to find. Palate stays soft, smooth, more shortbread, oatiness building, peach turning riper, warm cinnamon and clove threading through. Finishes long, gently warm, honeyed apricot fading slow and sweet. Lovely, unhurried whisky.
Serve: Neat, in a Glencairn glass — no need for water here, the whole point of Daftmill is how much patience shows through without dilution.