Daftmill: Summer Batch 2008 (Scottish Lowland Single Malt Whisky: 10 Year: 46% ABV)
Visual: Light gold. Fast, medium thickness streaks come from the spirit.
Nose: Light. Limes. Sugar dusting to honey. Light menthol. Vanilla toffee. Light oak. Water adds light peppermint.
Body: Very smooth. Sugared orange. Vanilla custard. Creamy lime. Fudge. Smooth caramel. Shortbread. Water makes creamier and adds more toffee.
Finish: Sugar dusting. Pencil shavings. Vanilla fudge. Cake sponge. Water adds choc toffee and white chocolate.
Conclusion: I’ve mentioned before that I am not the hugest fan of lowland whisky. It is ok, and I have run into some good expressions, but it is not usually my first pick. Therefore this is a bit of a shock in that it is bloody lovely. So lovely that, after missing doing notes on it once, I hunted it out to try again and this time bring my notebook!
It is super smooth – the alcohol gently coming along with a bit of a menthol air, but generally it has that Irish influenced (I presume) triple distilled smooth character. What makes it different is that it has a good level of vanilla toffee and fudge sweet grip that makes it that tiny smidge thicker than a normal lowland.
It shows remarkable subtlety , with orange and lime soft fruit notes, and a bit more caramel grip that pops up at a few moments, again giving it just that touch more grip and thickness, all dusted down with a light sugar touch.
I can see why, even past its rarity, this is so prized. It isn’t auction flipper prices level good, but for standard prices it is an amazing lowland. Water brings out even more, with a heavier chocolate notes. Well I say heavier, it is still super smooth, but just again a touch heavier that the sugar dust front and vanilla touch thicker backing it has neat.
Unfortunately it seems the lowland I find I can whole heartedly recommend is the one that is hardest to find. Darn it! Smooth, just touch of sweet weight, graceful subtlety. Amazingly easy to drink, but so rewarding. I love it.
Background: So … people who follow my twitter (both of you) may remember I put up a post saying I had not done notes on this. So may be wondering how come these notes are here. I first ran into this at an Uber whisky tasting where I had not brought my notebook as I was just chilling that night. It was amazing. I then found out that The Hideout had a bottle of it in. So I had to run over to do full notes on it. See. Easy. Until the uber whisky tasting I had not even heard of this distillery – it is a comparatively new one, and does an absolutely miniscule output each year. Web sites crash as people try to get hold of bottles, so I am spoiled to have had multiple chances to try it. This was bottled 2019, from being distilled 2008. Not much else to add. The Hideout is awesome.
