BBR opens ballot for first Daftmill release

UK fine wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd has opened a ballot for those wishing to buy a bottle from the inaugural run of Scotch whisky from Fife-based distillery Daftmill.

With the first bottling from the distillery expected to be very limited, customers interested in acquiring bottles are being advised to register their interest on the BBR website.

The ballot will close at 5pm on Thursday 10 May, after which 250 customers will be selected at random to receive an allocation of a bottle each, priced at £210.

BBR announced towards the end of last year that it had been named as the distributor for Daftmill, not only is this the first bottling from the distillery – which was founded in 2002 – it is the first whisky from a new Lowland distillery since 1966.

A “true farm distillery”, all of the grain used for the production of the whisky is grown on the farm owned by the distillery’s founders, the Cuthbert family.

The Chariot barley used for the inaugural release was cut on 31 August 2004 and was among the last barley malted in Fife by Robert Kilgour & Co before its closure.

Founder Francis Cuthbert commented: “Since starting the distillery, we have concentrated most of our efforts on producing the best whisky we can. We operate around the farming year and our unhurried methods of distillation have meant we can only produce around 100 casks of whisky a year. It is a great feeling knowing we are finally in a place to release our first whisky.”

“The launch of the Inaugural Release will also be the first chance customers have to see the new label and packaging –we hope the clean, simple and honest design reflects our approach to production.”

A further 250 bottles, dubbed the ‘Summer Release’, will be released to specialist retailers in June with a retail price of £95 a bottle.

Those interested in the ballot can register their interest here.