Daftmill 2012 Summer Edition

Tucked away in the Howe of Fife, near the tiny hamlet of Bow of Fife, sits Daftmill Distillery, one of Scotland’s smallest and most traditional farm distilleries. Housed in converted mill buildings on Daftmill Farm, the distillery forms part of the historic Pitlair Estate, a fertile stretch of land in the valley of the River Eden that has been farmed for centuries.

This is ancient country. Long before whisky was ever distilled here, Neolithic and Bronze Age settlers lived among the hills and marshes surrounding Collessie, with archaeological digs uncovering pottery and primitive tools. Just down the road stands a striking Pictish stone dating back to the 6th or 7th century, carved with the image of a naked warrior carrying a spear and shield.

The land itself carries a remarkable lineage. During the reign of King Alexander III in the 13th century, the Kynloch family held charter to the local mill and surrounding lands. Through marriage, ownership later passed to the Sandilands family, who retained the estate until the mid-1600s, when James Sandiland, Lord Abercrombie, sold his Fife holdings. By the early 18th century, the Walker family had taken possession of Pitlair and Daftmill, remaining there for generations before selling the estate to the Cuthbert family in 1984 — though the Cuthberts had already farmed the land as tenants long before becoming owners. Incredibly, it’s believed only three families may have owned this patch of Fife in the last thousand years.

Today, the farm remains very much a working agricultural operation. Barley, potatoes, carrots and broccoli grow across the estate, while beef cattle graze the surrounding fields. It’s this rhythm of farming life that defines Daftmill’s whisky.

In 2003, sixth-generation farming brothers Francis and Ian Cuthbert applied for permission to convert several old mill buildings on the property into a distillery. Restoration work took place across 2004 and 2005, with the brothers determined to keep the project as local as possible. Aside from the stills and mash tun supplied by Forsyths of Rothes, almost every aspect of the construction was completed by tradespeople working within a few miles of the farm itself.

Distilling licence in hand on St Andrew’s Day 2005, the first spirit finally ran from the stills on 16 December that year.

Daftmill produces whisky using unpeated barley grown directly on the farm and water drawn from its own artesian well. One of the distillery’s defining features is its distinctive water tower, a landmark visible from miles around. Family lore claims it was designed by a Dutch engineer involved in construction of the Tay Rail Bridge, a believable tale given the Walker family were investors in the railway project at the time. The tower’s elevated tank once relied on a wind pump to raise water from the well, though modern electric pumps now do the heavy lifting.

Everything at Daftmill is designed to work hand in hand with the farm. After mashing, the spent grains become feed for the cattle. Pot ale and spent lees are collected and spread across the fields as fertiliser. Even the warm cooling water from the stills is reused, either for the next mash or pumped into the duck pond, where it helps prevent freezing during the harsh Scottish winter.

Tiny by Scotch whisky standards, Daftmill has a maximum production capacity of just 20,000 litres of alcohol annually. More unusually still, the distillery operates entirely around the farming calendar. Production takes place only during quieter periods on the farm, with distilling taking place through winter after harvest, then briefly again in early summer before shutting down once more for planting and harvest season. While seasonal distilling was once common across Scotland, Daftmill revived a tradition largely absent for more than a century.

After years of patient maturation, the distillery finally unveiled its debut whisky: the highly anticipated Daftmill 2005 12-Year-Old Inaugural Release, a whisky that immediately cemented the farm distillery’s reputation among collectors and lovers of quietly traditional Scotch.