DramMaster Daily Whisky News — 15 August 2026

Jackton Distillery Unveils First RAER Single Malt Scotch

Jackton Distillery has opened public pre-sale of its first single malt. RAER Single Malt Scotch Whisky, The Inaugural Release, is priced at £68 and limited to 6,000 individually hand-numbered bottles. Shipping begins 4 September 2026.

The family-run Lowland distillery sits just outside Glasgow. The Kean family laid down their first casks in February 2020 — six years of maturation before this release. Jackton is one of Scotland's youngest female-founded distilleries, and the whisky is distilled, matured, and bottled on site.

Murray's take: £68 for an inaugural single malt from a new Lowland distillery is the right opening price — not cheap enough to signal low confidence, not expensive enough to scare anyone off. 6,000 bottles is a genuine release, not a token. The Kean family laid casks in 2020 and waited six years to put a single malt out, which tells you they're patient enough to do this properly. The question for any new distillery's first release is whether it tastes like whisky or like ambition. Pre-sale is open — if you want to be one of the first to find out, the window is now.

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Irish Whiskey Technical File Changes Could 'Broaden' Category

A public consultation into amendments to Irish whiskey's technical file will close on 4 September 2026. The technical file, published in 2014, governs the rules for what can be called Irish whiskey — and the proposed changes are the most significant since its introduction.

Key proposed amendments include expanding the "other grains" allowance in pot still mash bills from 5% to 30% (specified as oats, wheat, and rye), removing "currently non-peated" from the pot still definition, removing references to oak casks in maturation, and increasing the malted barley allowance for grain Irish whiskey from 30% to 40%.

Elliot Hughes, managing director of Dingle Distillery, told The Spirits Business: "It's been discussed for a long time and a lot of distilleries have distilled products on the assumption that this goes through as well. I think it benefits the category having a kind of broader church of different mash bill styles that we can look at."

Brendan Carty, founder of Kilowen, framed the changes as a return to tradition: "People often think innovation means inventing something new, but in Irish whiskey it's often about rediscovering what our predecessors were already doing, before styles became artificially hegemonized outside of cultural evolution."

The Irish Whiskey Association and the Irish Whiskey Guild have both submitted positions. The consultation began on 26 June and closes at 4pm on 4 September.

Murray's take: The 2014 technical file was written when Irish pot still meant one distillery — Midleton. Now there are dozens of producers, and the rules need to catch up. Expanding the grain allowance from 5% to 30% isn't dumbing down; it's letting distillers use oats, wheat, and rye the way their great-grandparents did. Removing "currently non-peated" opens the door to peated pot still, which some distilleries are already making underground. The oak cask reference removal is the one to watch — it could allow alternative wood maturation, which is where Irish whiskey could differentiate from Scotch's oak-bound rules. The consultation closes 4 September. If you make or sell Irish whiskey, that's your deadline to have your say.

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Diageo Unveils 55-Year-Old Glenury Royal — Its Oldest Single Malt Ever Bottled

Diageo's Luxury Group has launched the inaugural chapter of its new Rare Series, headlined by a 55-year-old single malt from the demolished Glenury Royal Distillery — Diageo's oldest single malt ever bottled.

Distilled in 1970 at Glenury Royal, which ceased production in 1985 and has since been demolished, the whisky was matured in American oak hogsheads and married in European oak puncheons before bottling at 62.4% ABV. Limited to 232 bottles at £5,700 including tax.

The collection features five whiskies: Talisker 1992 (33-year-old, 331 bottles, £1,200), Caol Ila 1983 (42-year-old, the oldest Caol Ila ever released, 318 bottles, £2,700), Clynelish 1983 (42-year-old, 160 bottles, £3,600), and Blair Athol 1991 (34-year-old, 347 bottles, £800).

Julie Bramham, managing director of Diageo Luxury Group, said: "Rare Series is an ode to Scotland's rich whisky heritage and its enduring influence on the world of luxury, where rarity is not created, but revealed over time."

Master blender Dr Craig Wilson added: "From the experimental richness of Talisker 1992 to the historic Glenury Royal, which has been aged for more than half a century, each expression showcases rarity, diversity, and meticulous craftsmanship."

The Rare Series is available exclusively through Diageo's private client teams, including London-based Justerini & Brooks.

Murray's take: A 55-year-old whisky from a distillery that closed 41 years ago and no longer exists — that's rarity discovered in a warehouse, not manufactured. 232 bottles at £5,700 is genuinely scarce. The Caol Ila 1983 is the sleeper pick — 42 years old, the oldest ever from that distillery, Islay whisky with four decades of cask time. The Talisker at £1,200 is the entry point, and the 20-year amoroso finish makes it the most experimental of the five. Private client access only, and the list will be long.

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Redemption Whiskey Launches First Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon

Redemption Whiskey has announced its first bottled-in-bond expression: Redemption Single Barrel Bonded Bourbon, the first release in its relaunched Higher Marques Collection. The bourbon launches nationally in September 2026 during National Bourbon Heritage Month.

Aged for a minimum of six years and bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV), the whiskey meets the federal standards of the 1897 Bottled-in-Bond Act — distilled during a single distilling season at MGP's Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The mash bill is 60% corn, 36% wheat rye, and 4% malted barley. Non-chill filtered, bottled by Redemption Barrel Selections in Frankfort, Kentucky.

The Bottled-in-Bond Act requires whiskey to be the product of one distilling season, aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at exactly 100 proof. Redemption's six-year minimum exceeds the legal requirement.

Murray's take: Bottled-in-bond is the most honest labelling in American whiskey — one distillery, one season, one proof, four years minimum. Redemption going beyond the four-year floor to six years, and adding single-barrel selection on top, is a statement of intent. The 36% wheat rye mash bill is unusual — most bonded bourbons lean heavier on rye for spice, but wheat brings softness. At 100 proof, it'll have presence in a glass without burning your palate off. September launch timed for Bourbon Heritage Month is smart retail positioning. Worth watching whether the Higher Marques Collection can rebuild Redemption's credibility after years of being a mixing bourbon.

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Spirit of Yorkshire Celebrates Sold-Out 10th Anniversary With First Age Statement

Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery, Yorkshire's first single malt whisky distillery, celebrated its 10th anniversary with a sold-out Open Weekend on 1-2 August, headlined by the release of Filey Bay 10 Year Old Single Cask 'Decade of Distilling' — the distillery's first age statement whisky.

Limited to 192 bottles, the single cask was distilled and cask in summer 2016. It was available exclusively to masterclass delegates at £250 per ticket, with sessions capped at 50 people. Tasting notes describe a light, fruity, and complex whisky with flavours of barley sugar, biscuit, citrus, and caramel.

Co-founder David Thompson said: "Be the first to both try and take home our 'Decade of Distilling' Single Cask, the first 10 year old age-statement Yorkshire whisky. This single cask whisky was distilled and casked in summer 2016. It shows how our distillery style has matured over the past ten years."

The Hunmanby-based distillery is one of only a handful worldwide to use 100% homegrown barley. It was named one of the top 50 spirits producers globally by the IWSC in 2025.

Murray's take: 192 bottles, masterclass-only, £250 a ticket — Spirit of Yorkshire isn't chasing volume, they're chasing the story. A decade of distilling from a field-to-bottle operation using 100% homegrown barley is genuinely rare. Most distilleries buy barley; Spirit of Yorkshire grows it. The Open Weekend selling out tells you the audience for English whisky is real. The first age statement from any distillery is a milestone; from one of the pioneers of English single malt, it's a marker for the whole category. The bottles are gone — but the next decade starts now.

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