Daftmill 2009 Summer Batch Release
70cl / 46%
£199 Last one
| Country | scotland |
| Region | Lowland |
| Established | 2005 |
| Owner | Francis and Ian Cuthbert |
| Type | Farm distillery |
| Number of stills | 1 wash still (2,500L), 1 spirit still (1,500L) |
| Visitor center | No |
| Status | Active |
| Phone | n/a |
Daftmill Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located on Daftmill Farm near Cupar, in the Howe of Fife, Lowland region, Scotland. It was founded in 2005 and is currently owned and operated by brothers Francis and Ian Cuthbert, sixth-generation farmers of the land. Daftmill is one of Scotland's smallest and most tightly rationed single malt producers, distilling only during quiet spells in the farming calendar and bottling exclusively as vintage-dated, single-cask-style seasonal releases.
Ian and Francis Cuthbert applied for a distiller's licence in 2003, converting a historic meal mill on their family farm — a building with origins dating back to Napoleonic times — into a working distillery. HMRC granted the licence in 2005, and the first spirit ran from the stills on 16 December 2005. Alongside Kilchoman on Islay, Daftmill is credited as a pioneer of the modern wave of small farm distilleries in Scotland, and it was the first new Lowland malt distillery to open in decades, joining only Auchentoshan, Bladnoch and Glenkinchie in the region at the time.
True to its farm-distillery ethos, Daftmill grows its own barley on-site and draws process water from its own artesian well. Because whisky-making has to fit around the farm's arable calendar, production runs only in short summer and winter windows, capping output at around 20,000 litres of pure alcohol a year — a fraction of a typical commercial distillery. This scarcity, combined with the brothers' patient approach of holding back stock for over a decade before release, has made Daftmill a cult name among collectors. Its inaugural bottling, a 2005-vintage 12-year-old cask-strength single malt, was not released until June 2018, some 13 years after the distillery first ran. The site remains a working farm with no public visitor facilities.
Daftmill does not maintain a standard core range in the conventional sense; instead it issues limited, vintage-dated Summer and Winter Releases bottled at cask strength once stock has matured for well over a decade, alongside occasional independent-bottler releases (e.g. via Berry Bros. & Rudd). The inaugural 2005 Vintage 12-Year-Old was bottled at 55.8% ABV from three bourbon casks (629 bottles). Later expressions have included further Summer and Winter vintage releases and, more recently, a 15-year-old cask-strength "Fife Strength" bottling. Exact ABV varies by release since each is bottled at natural cask strength.
Daftmill distillery is located at Daftmill Farm, Cupar, Fife, KY15 5RF, Scotland.
Daftmill distillery was founded in 2005.
Daftmill distillery is owned by Francis and Ian Cuthbert.
Daftmill distillery is from Lowland, scotland.
You can buy Daftmill whisky at Glenbotal.co.uk. We currently stock 1 bottle with free UK delivery on orders over £99.
Last reviewed:
70cl / 46%
£199 Last one
About Glenbotal
The idea of Glenbotal came to us naturaly: as whisky lovers, we were always on the lookout for new experiences in the whisky world. That’s why we created Glenbotal and became our very own first customers. We buy unique and hard to find spirits from auctions, ballots, and private collections. Then, we share them with a small circle of friends and people who can appreciate a good dram.