DramMaster Daily Whisky News — 26 July 2026

United Spirits Posts 51.6% Profit Jump as Diageo India Powers On

United Spirits, Diageo's Indian subsidiary, reported profit after tax of INR 391 crore ($40.5 million) for the quarter ending 30 June 2026 — a 51.6% year-on-year increase. Net sales grew 6% to INR 2,703 crore ($280 million). The Prestige & Above segment, which carries 91.7% saliency, grew 10.1%, driven by local flavour innovations for Smirnoff and broad-based portfolio growth. The Popular segment declined 17.5% to INR 206 crore ($21.3 million), hit by Maharashtra policy changes and Karnataka regulatory shifts. Gross margin reached 46.1%, up 11.2%, while EBITDA hit INR 432 crore ($44.8 million). CEO Praveen Someshwar said the company had "commenced fiscal 2027 on a strong note" and pointed to "consumer-centric interventions" as the growth engine. McDowell's, long the number-one Indian whisky by volume, lost that position to Pernod Ricard's Royal Stag last year.

Murray's take: India is the volume engine of global whisky, and Diageo's Indian arm is printing money in the prestige tier while the bottom end erodes. The 10% growth in Prestige & Above against a 17.5% Popular decline tells you where the margin is. The Maharashtra policy drag is real but contained. The bigger story is Royal Stag overtaking McDowell's — Pernod Ricard is winning the volume war while Diageo wins the margin war. Both can be true. Dave Lewis's restructuring at Diageo HQ is cutting costs in Ireland and Oregon; India is where the growth pays for it.

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Irish Whiskey Forecast to Outpace Scotch in Travel Retail Through 2029

IWSR senior insights manager Charlotte Reid told The Spirits Business that Irish whiskey in global travel retail (GTR) is forecast to grow at a 3% volume CAGR through 2029, against just 1% for Scotch. The US remains the largest market for Irish whiskey by volume, but growth is spreading across India, the Philippines, and Japan. At Dublin Airport, Irish whiskey sales rose 2.1% last year despite what ARI called a "volatile trading environment." Jameson's Triple Triple GTR-exclusive range remains the category leader — Malaga Cask is the best-performing expression after Original, and Marsala Cask launched last year as the second limited edition. Jameson Black Barrel posted 17% year-to-date growth in GTR through March 2026. Proximo Spirits is pushing Bushmills World Wood Series, a GTR-exclusive small-batch single malt range with age statements up to 21 years, targeting the prestige gifting tier traditionally owned by Scotch.

Murray's take: Three percent versus one percent doesn't sound dramatic until you remember that Scotch's travel retail base is multiples larger. Irish whiskey is growing off a smaller floor but eating into Scotch's airport monopoly at the premium end. The Bushmills World Wood Series with 18 and 21-year age statements is the sharpest move — that's Scotch territory, and Proximo is competing on provenance and cask innovation, not price. The Indian duty free opportunity is the one to watch. Indian travellers are brand-aware and increasingly curious, and Irish whiskey's smoother profile plays well to palates transitioning from lighter spirits.

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Ardnamurchan Paul Launois 2026: The Drier Sibling

The Whiskey Wash's Phil Dwyer tasted the 2026 edition of Ardnamurchan's Paul Launois release side by side with the original, five years apart. Both whiskies are natural colour, unchill-filtered, and built from unpeated stock at near-identical strengths — 57.6% ABV for the original, 57.4% for the 2026. The "champagne cask" label is technically a misnomer: the barrels came from Paul Launois vineyard filled with Chardonnay, the wine destined for champagne but never carbonated in wood. The original bursts with orchard fruits, blossom, and pick-and-mix sweets, with an unusual watermelon note and a palate that runs from lemony floral through ginger beer fizz to rosemary and sage. The 2026 shares the lemon backbone but pushes drier — heather honey, marshmallow, pencil shavings, anise, fennel, and a green Chartreuse herbal quality on the finish. Dwyer scored the 2026 at 8/10 and the original at 8.5/10, suggesting the 2026 may contain stock aged 11 or 12 years.

Murray's take: Ardnamurchan is one of Scotland's most interesting young distilleries, and the Paul Launois series is its most distinctive release. The 2026 going drier than the original is the right direction — the first release was exuberant but sweet, and older stock with more wood influence gives it structure. The "champagne cask" myth deserves puncturing, which Dwyer does cleanly. A Chardonnay barrel from a grower who supplies champagne is not a champagne cask. It's still a good story. It's just not the story people tell. At 57.4% and natural colour, this is a proper whisky.

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Colorado's Branch & Barrel Claims Six Medals Across Two Competitions

Branch & Barrel Distilling, based in Centennial, Colorado, has won four medals at the Bartenders Spirits Awards and two at the SIP Awards. The Bartenders Spirits Awards, judged by trade professionals, awarded gold to Cherry Port and High Rye Bourbon, with silver for Wheated Bourbon and 3-year Colorado Straight Bourbon. At the SIP Awards, a consumer-judged competition, the distiller took double gold for Made in the Shade II — a single barrel version of its Flagship Bourbon recipe — and gold for High Rye Bourbon. Master blender Mitchell Nester pointed to Colorado's elevation, climate, Rocky Mountain water, and local grains as factors behind the results. Branch & Barrel's bourbons are available at craft spirits retailers across Colorado and at the distillery's Centennial tasting room.

Murray's take: Colorado is quietly building a credible bourbon identity, and Branch & Barrel is one of the names doing the heavy lifting. Six medals across trade-judged and consumer-judged competitions is a solid signal — it means the product works behind the bar and on the back porch. The double gold for Made in the Shade II, a single barrel expression, is the standout. Single barrel means variance, and winning double gold on a specific barrel says the cask selection is disciplined. The elevation argument is real — temperature swings accelerate angel's share extraction, and thinner air means different barrel dynamics. Colorado bourbon isn't a gimmick. It's a region.

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Thy Distillery's Whisky Trail: Danish Malted Rye, Grain-to-Glass

Thy Distillery in Denmark takes a route most modern producers skip: growing its own grain and working grain-to-glass from estate cereals. The Whisky Trail bottling is a malted rye whisky that leans into raw material clarity rather than cask influence. The whisky pours pale gold with bright clarity, light to moderate viscosity, and fine steady legs. Thy's approach treats the distillate as the story, with cask as supporting cast — the opposite of the heavy-finish model that dominates Scotch limited releases. The Whisky Trail expression is built around texture and sense of place, showing what happens when a distillery controls the grain and lets the spirit carry the narrative.

Murray's take: Danish whisky is a small category, but Thy is doing something worth watching. Most distilleries buy grain from brokers and talk about casks. Thy grows its own and talks about the spirit. Malted rye is uncommon in whisky — rye's spice and grain character are usually fermented from unmalted rye in American whiskey. Malting the rye changes the enzymatic profile and the flavour, giving a rounder, sweeter grain character with less of the peppery bite. The pale colour tells you the cask is doing light work. This is a whisky for people who want to taste what the distillery made, not what the barrel did to it.

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