Side by side : A pair of Daftmills - Batch v Single Cask

Another Daftmill ballot another disappointment... if like me you've entered a ballot for a Daftmill release and been unsuccessful you'll know the only way to get try a dram is from a drample swap from a whisky mate.

This is exactly what happened here!

I've written about Daftmill before here, suffice to say it's a small farm distillery using it's own barley to distil and fill around 100 casks of whisky a year.

The whisky is distributed through Berry Bros. & Rudd usually via a ballot which, so far, I've been unsuccessful in. This is a huge issue for people who want to try these drams and applies to other newer distilleries such as Bimber and to a lesser extend Lakes. From the distillery's point of view they sell all of their bottles so they are happy - but are they? A lot of bottles then find their way to auction sites and sell for many times their original value - the distilleries aren't making this money it's the flippers who are.

The current ballot is for the 2008 Winter release, here I'll try it's older sibling the 2007 Winter release alongside a 2006 Single Cask, let's see how they taste:

Dram	Winter Batch 2007 12yo Release (UK) Casks 23-25,27,32,35,38 / 2007	2006 13yo Single Cask #21/2006
Characteristics	46% ABV Natural colour, non chill filtered 1st Fill Bourbon 1,785 bottles	57.1% ABV Natural colour, non chill filtered 1st Fill Bourbon 234 bottles
Distillery notes	The barley variety Optic was grown in the South fields and harvested in the last week of August 2006. It was then stored on the farm to be malted in Alloa during the summer of 2007. This seven first fill ex bourbon barrels that make up this bottling, casks 023/2007, 024/2007, 025/2007, 027/2007, 032/2007, 035/2007 and 038/2007 were distilled and filled in November 2007. Aromas of freshly baked sponge, cardamom and peach skin lead on to a floral note reminiscent of gorse flower. The palate is vibrant with fresh vanilla, fruit, toasted almond and a juicy tangerine edge on the back-palate, building to a spicy finish with just a touch of mashed banana.	Harvested from the farm’s Dam Park and Curling Pond fields on 31st August 2004, the Chariot barley was among the last to be malted in Fife by Robert Kilgour & Co before they closed. This first fill bourbon barrel was filled on the 12th July 2006 and bottled in 2019 for the United Kingdom. Nose: Dried apple crisps and pear drops, alongside biscuit dough, vanilla and hickory. Palate: Grassy as it opens, giving way to more vanilla and a touch of floral malt. Orange peels, red chilli flake, macadamia nuts and gooseberry. Finish: Still slightly floral, though the toasty oak has the last word.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Very pale gold in the glass, swirls form thick beads which fall as fast thick legs.	Pale gold in the glass, swirls leave a hairline crack in the glass which slowly beads up and falls as slow thin legs.
Nose	Orchard fruit - apples, pears, peaches, plums and a little sweetness - honey or barley sugars. There's some grass and herbs and  nice hints of vanilla and icing sugar.	Similar orchard fruit notes, sweetness, vanilla and icing sugar just all a little subdued. There's no sign of the grass and herbs replaced instead with hints of milk chocolate.
Palate	Thick syrupy arrival, the orchard fruit have turned all tropical - pineapple, kiwi and banana, Huge mouthcoating honey sweetness, icing sugar dryness and a peppery spice. A few more sips offer green herbs and a citrus note - lemon zest.	Again a thick syrupy arrival, a little waxy even, very sweet and again a move from orchard to tropical fruit with some coconut notes. The extra ABV makes itself know - a bit more body and mouthfeel. The peppery spice is shared, as is the citrus note but the single cask offers the milk chocolate from the nose.
Finish	Lingering peppery spice, tropical fruit and honey.	Lingering peppery spice, tropical fruit and drying icing sugar.
Overall	Both really nice drams, not worth the exorbitant price being asked for them, but nice all the same. As you'd expect the single cask adds ABV, thicker mouthfeel and a little more spice to the 46% vatting but the ex-bourbon distillery character can easily be traced between the two. If you are lucky enough to win a ballet, don't flip your bottle, open and enjoy it, maybe share a little with those of us a little less fortunate! #WhiskyIsForDrinking #BestSharedWithFriends

Many thanks to @Ardbaggie and @GeoffGilmore1 for the generous sample swaps!

An interesting side note:

On the back of the Single Cask bottle the label says:

So the barley was stored, either pre or post malting or both, for nearly 2 years before being used to distil the whisky - I didn't know it could be kept for that long.