DramMaster Daily Whisky News — 12 July 2026

Isle of Harris Launches Signature Single Malt — Bourbon and Sherry Casks, 46% ABV, £50

Isle of Harris Distillery has unveiled its new signature single malt — the first core expression to drop the "Hearach" name and carry the island's own identity.

The whisky is lightly peated, matured in ex-Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry casks, and bottled at 46% ABV. It carries an RRP of £50 (US$67) per 700ml bottle.

Distillery blender Shona Macleod said: "The combination of Bourbon and Oloroso casks brings warmth, sweetness and gentle spice, while the light peat adds depth without overpowering the spirit. Made, matured and married in the Isle of Harris, it's a whisky designed to be enjoyed with family and friends, perfect in a highball or a simple serve."

The expression goes on sale at the distillery in Tarbert on 14 July, with online sales from 22 July. A wider rollout across UK specialist retail and international markets — including the US, Germany, and France — begins in August 2026. Executive chairman Ron MacEachran called it "a stronger platform for long-term international growth." The distillery began production in 2015. A June 2026 MKA Economics report found it has contributed £13.8 million to the local economy since opening.

Murray's take: Dropping the Hearach name is a rebrand — Harris wants the distillery name on the bottle, not a Gaelic word that confuses consumers outside Scotland. Bourbon and Oloroso at 46% ABV for £50 is competitive for an island single malt with a decade of stock. Lightly peated puts it alongside Highland Park, not Ardbeg — wider audience, more crowded shelf.

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International Whisky Competition 2026: Aberfeldy 25 Named Best Single Malt Scotch — Dewar's Wins Five of Nine Categories

The International Whisky Competition has released its 2026 single malt Scotch results, judged blind on a 100-point scale with no brand, country, or age disclosed to the panel.

Aberfeldy 25 Year Old took the top award: Best Single Malt Scotch, Best 25 Year Old, and Best Highland Single Malt, scoring 92.05 points. Tasting notes cite cocoa, caramel, cinnamon, fruit, vanilla coffee, smoke, peaches, and wild strawberries. Matured in refill casks then finished for over a year in first-fill Oloroso Sherry casks. Bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered. Retail: £500 / $529.

Five of nine single malt titles went to John Dewar & Sons, the Bacardi subsidiary. Royal Brackla won three age categories: the 12 Year Old (91.37 points, £63), the 18 Year Old in Palo Cortado sherry casks (90.53 points, £140), and the 21 Year Old in Oloroso, Palo Cortado, and Pedro Ximénez casks (£196). Bruichladdich's Classic Laddie won the NAS category, though the bottling now carries a 10-year age statement. Ardbeg's Wee Beastie won Under 10 Years at 89.40 points (£33).

The standout result: an unnamed Islay malt, entered under embargo as "New Product Under Embargo D," swept three categories — Best 15 Year Old, Best Islay Single Malt, and Best Peated Scotch — scoring 91.80 points. The IWC has withheld all identifying details. The only confirmed facts: Islay, peated, 15 years old.

Dewar's Malt Master Stephanie Macleod was named Master Blender of the Year for the seventh consecutive year. Dewar's also swept all seven blended Scotch categories.

Murray's take: Five of nine single malt titles plus all seven blended categories — a Dewar's year. The Aberfeldy 25 at 92.05 points is a worthy winner: Oloroso finish on a 25-year-old Highland malt with long larch fermentation. The unnamed Islay 15 is the story — three category wins under embargo is unusual, Laphroaig 15 was re-released recently and the timing fits, but the IWC is not saying. Royal Brackla taking three categories with three different sherry finishes is the quiet headline: a distillery closed for six years and relaunched as a single malt brand in 2019 is outperforming older, more famous names.

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Gordon & MacPhail Releases Its Final Talisker — 39-Year-Old, 451 Bottles, £1,250

Gordon & MacPhail has announced the final bottling to carry the Talisker name under its Connoisseurs Choice Heritage range — a 39-year-old single malt from refill Sherry butt, distilled in 1987.

The whisky is bottled at cask strength, 51.4% ABV, and limited to 451 bottles. It retails at £1,250 through selected specialist retailers.

Tasting notes describe fragrant raisin and clove spice on the nose, with leather and tangerine zest giving way to walnut and prune. The palate offers jammy figs, vibrant strawberries, cracked black pepper, subtle cocoa, pressed apple, and dried tobacco. The finish is full and spicy with lingering citrus and a delicate hint of ash.

The release honours George Urquhart, described by whisky writer Charles MacLean as "the father of single malt," who launched the Connoisseurs Choice range in 1968 to make whiskies from rarely bottled distilleries available as single malts. The range has featured over 2,000 bottlings from nearly 100 Scottish distilleries. The Heritage range revives the original black label design.

Stuart Urquhart, Operations Director at Gordon & MacPhail, said: "This release marks a poignant moment for us. After several decades during which bottlings from Talisker Distillery have been absent from our Connoisseurs Choice range, we are now releasing a final single-cask bottling from this outstanding distillery."

Murray's take: This is an end, not a beginning. Gordon & MacPhail's Connoisseurs Choice range has been their calling card since 1968. A 39-year-old Talisker from refill Sherry butt at cask strength is a serious piece of liquid — refill means the wood hasn't dominated, so Talisker's maritime pepper should still be present. £1,250 for 451 bottles puts this in collector territory, which is where the final Talisker from an independent bottler belongs. The reason it is the last: Diageo has been reducing casks sold to independent bottlers. This is the closing chapter of a decades-long relationship.

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Cask Connoisseur Ranks UK and Ireland's Most Popular Whisky Distilleries for 2026

The Cask Connoisseur has released its annual ranking of the UK and Ireland's favourite whisky distilleries, now in its fourth year.

The index scores 295 distilleries on Google and TripAdvisor ratings plus social media metrics across Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn, out of a maximum 3,564. It measures online popularity and visitor reputation, not spirit quality.

Scotland dominated the top 10 with six distilleries. No Northern Irish or Welsh distillery made the cut — Copeland placed 19th, Penderyn 25th.

The biggest climber was Isle of Harris, rising 23 spots from position 32. Isle of Raasay ranked in the top five, boosted by luxury cabins and "The Raasay Way" two-day distiller experience. Dingle Distillery in County Kerry also placed top five, helped by its 10-year-old single malt and strong private tour reviews. Micil Distillery in Galway leapt 14 places back into the top 10. Cotswolds, which topped the list in 2024, fell out of the top five but remains a leading voice for English whisky geographical indication.

Murray's take: A popularity index based on Google reviews and social media is not a quality ranking — the Cask Connoisseur says so themselves. But it tells you where foot traffic is going, and that matters for distilleries that depend on visitor revenue. Isle of Harris jumping 23 places despite cutting jobs is the signal: the Golden Globes goody bag and travel retail presence are doing more for awareness than production volume. Raasay's overnight accommodation turns a tour into an experience. The absence of Northern Irish or Welsh distilleries from the top 10 is a gap, not a verdict.

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White Peak's David Symes: Wild Fermentation, Brewing Roots, and the English Whisky Frontier

The Whisky Wire's 142nd Whisky Insiders interview features David Symes, distillery manager at White Peak Distillery in Derbyshire — makers of Wire Works whisky.

Symes has been in the whisky industry for over eight years, having previously worked in brewing. That brewing background informs his approach: long fermentations, brewer's yeast, and experimentation with variables most distilleries treat as fixed.

Over the last twelve months, White Peak has experimented with wild fermentations, barley varieties, distillation speed, and cut points. Symes sees smaller distilleries as the defining trend: "Smaller distilleries often have greater freedom to innovate. Batch sizes can be kept relatively small, so experimenting with different production methods, cut points, barley varieties and other variables is much more manageable."

His first whisky was an Oban 14. His last dram was a Caol Ila Palo Cortado Finish from Woodrow's of Edinburgh. His one indispensable bottle: Wire Works Bourbon Barrel, his own distillery's expression. His favourite place to drink whisky is the distillery tasting room, by the fireplace, after selecting casks for upcoming releases.

White Peak Distillery is located in Derbyshire and produces Wire Works single malt.

Murray's take: A brewer turned distiller is a different animal. White Peak's approach — wild fermentations, barley varieties, cut point experiments — is what small-scale production allows that large operations cannot do at volume. The risk is inconsistency; the reward is distinctiveness. English whisky is still proving itself, and the distilleries winning attention are the ones doing something measurably different from the Scottish template. The question for every English distillery is the same: when stock reaches 10, 12, 15 years, does the spirit hold up?

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