DramMaster Daily Whisky News — 8 August 2026

Jackton Distillery Releases Inaugural RAER Single Malt

Jackton Distillery has announced the public pre-sale of its first ever Single Malt Scotch Whisky. RAER Single Malt Scotch Whisky, The Inaugural Release, is available to pre-buy from 7 August 2026, priced at £68. The first batch is limited to 6,000 individually hand-numbered bottles, with shipping from 4 September 2026.

Distilled, matured and bottled at the family-run Lowland distillery just outside Glasgow, the whisky is bottled at 48.7% ABV, natural colour and non-chill filtered, matured across Bourbon, Pedro Ximénez, Amontillado and Oloroso casks. Tasting notes describe fruitcake, fig and sultana on the nose; dark fruits, treacle and roasted nuts on the palate; and a long, mellow finish of toffee, sweet spice and soft oak.

The distillery was founded by the Kean family on their South Lanarkshire farm. Managing director Jaynie Kean, 28, is one of Scotland's youngest female distillery founders. The first casks were laid down in February 2020. As part of the development process, Jackton shared early samples with visitors and specialists, and contributor names appear on the bottle box.

Murray's take: Six years from first cask to bottle. £68 for 48.7% ABV, four cask types, natural colour, 6,000 bottles — sharp pricing for an inaugural Lowland release. The spec sheet reads right; the liquid will decide when it ships in September.

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The Borders Distillery Closes Workshop Series with 'Deep Time'

The Borders Distillery has unveiled 'Deep Time', the fourth and final expression in its blended whisky Workshop Series, paying tribute to 18th-century Scottish geologist James Hutton — the father of modern geology — marking 300 years since his birth.

Deep Time uses the same batch of spirit first distilled for the distillery's 2019 Workshop Series release. The whisky offers notes of apple tart and peach, leading to a long, elegant finish. It is bottled at 40% ABV, with 750 bottles available at The Borders Distillery and selected specialist retailers.

Managing director Giancarlo Bianchi said: "Deep Time is a fitting conclusion to our Workshop Series. These experimental releases have helped lay the foundations for our single malt, giving us invaluable insight into the character and potential of our spirit."

The Borders Distillery opened in 2018 in Hawick — the first single malt Scotch whisky distillery in the Scottish Borders in almost 200 years.

Murray's take: A series ending is more interesting than one beginning. Four releases from the same 2019 spirit, each showing what cask work and time do to the same liquid. The real story: The Borders Distillery is pivoting from experimental blends toward single malt. The Workshop Series was the research phase. Now the actual work begins.

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Whisky Week Returns to Three Scottish Cities from 20 August

Whisky Week returns to Scotland from 20 August 2026, uniting more than 50 venues across Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland's largest whisky trail. The festival runs until 13 September, rolling out city by city: Aberdeen 20–30 August, Glasgow 27 August–6 September, Edinburgh 3–13 September.

Unlike traditional single-location festivals, Whisky Week spreads across participating bars, each partnering with a different distillery or brand. Every venue offers at least one dram for £5 or less. Advance wristbands are £9, rising to £12 during each festival, including access to every venue, exclusive festival menus and a printed guidebook.

Participating venues include The Pot Still, Teuchters Bar, Teuchters Landing, Port of Leith Distillery, The Grill and The Tippling House. Festival partners include Glenfiddich, Springbank, Glengoyne, Glen Moray, Kingsbarns, Kilchoman, Wemyss Malts, Caol Ila and Tamnavulin.

Co-founder Gregor Sey said: "Whisky has always been about more than what's in the glass. It's about the people you share it with, the stories behind every dram and the venues that bring Scotland's whisky culture to life."

Murray's take: £9 for a wristband that gets you into 50+ venues with £5 drams — the most accessible festival pricing in Scotland. The multi-city trail format meets drinkers in bars rather than convention centres. With Springbank, Kilchoman and Caol Ila on the partner list, the quality matches the accessibility.

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Isle of Arran Offers Rare 10-Year Peated Casks at £10,500 Each

Isle of Arran Distillers has launched a selection of fully matured, 10-year-old peated Arran Single Malt casks, priced at £10,500 each, celebrating Cask Sales Manager Gillian Snaddon's 20-year anniversary with the company.

The casks are first-fill Bourbon peated casks, filled in 2016 with spirit distilled from 20ppm Scottish barley. Each cask contains approximately 92 to 105 regauged litres of alcohol, with five years of storage and insurance included. Buyers can register interest via the Arran Whisky website.

Production of peated spirit at Lochranza distillery concluded in 2017, when the sister distillery at Lagg took over the peated portfolio. For a few weeks each year over the past decade, Lochranza's stills produced peated spirit, released as Machrie Moor Single Malt — a departure from Arran's typically soft, fruity house style.

Snaddon said: "Knowing that this style of spirit is no longer produced, they really represent a true piece of irreplaceable Arran history."

Murray's take: Peated Arran is dead spirit — Lochranza stopped making it in 2017. At roughly £100-114 per regauged litre, this is cask investment territory, not drinking whisky. Machrie Moor has a cult following and no new supply, but cask investment is unregulated and illiquid. Know what you are buying.

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SNP Urges Labour to Cut Whisky Duty as Union Accuses Diageo of 'Steam-Rolling' Job Cuts

The SNP has called on the Labour government to cut whisky duty in the autumn Budget, pointing to Diageo's announcement that 172 distillery workers in the Highlands and Islands are at risk of redundancy, with 38 roles expected to progress to job losses.

GMB Scotland has accused Diageo of "steam-rolling" through the cuts after a four-week consultation ended without agreement. Organiser Lesley-Anne Macaskill said: "This has not been a genuine consultation but a box-ticking exercise by a company intent on steam-rolling through job losses to a plan that has already been decided." The union proposed voluntary redundancies and job-sharing as alternatives; Diageo rejected both. Distilleries at risk include Cardhu, Cragganmore, Port Ellen and Dufftown.

SNP MSP Laura Mitchell for Moray said: "The tax hikes imposed on Scotland's greatest industry have driven down sales, brought down tax revenue, and placed enormous pressures on distilleries." The SNP says duty hikes reduced tax revenues by £1.1 billion. Diageo's $850 million cost-cutting programme targets £631 million from operations and £111 million from its supply chain, after a 3% fall in annual net sales to £14.5 billion.

Murray's take: The political fight is real but the duty argument cuts both ways — every side quotes the number that suits them. The GMB's account, if accurate, describes a consultation that was procedural rather than genuine: no modifications, no alternatives accepted. The 38 job losses are small in a £14.5 billion company, but in rural Highland communities, each one carries more weight than the balance sheet suggests.

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