DramMaster Daily Whisky News — 19 August 2026

By Murray

Bardstown Bourbon Unveils 2026 Annual Releases: Lochs of Jura and Discovery

Bardstown Bourbon Company has revealed two limited fall expressions, both rolling out nationwide in the US from 21 August at $139.99 per 750ml bottle.

Lochs of Jura Barrel Finish began as a blend of straight bourbon and rye, then spent 32 months in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks from the Isle of Jura. The 59-gallon sherry casks were too large for the ricks, so the team left them in warehouse aisles. The result: 104 proof, 99 points at the IWSC, the highest score in this year's North American judging.

The 2026 Discovery blends seven, 10, and 11-year-old bourbons, then finishes for four months in custom Garryana oak barrels. Garryana, or Oregon White Oak, has dense grain that slows oxidation while contributing clove and nutmeg. Bottled at 112.8 proof (56.4% ABV). Both releases feature commissioned artwork by Louisville artist Margaret Archambault.

Murray's take: A Kentucky distillery shipping casks from an island of 238 people, storing them in warehouse aisles because they don't fit the ricks, and scoring 99 at the IWSC. That's not a gimmick. That's conviction. The Discovery at 112.8 proof with Garryana oak is the more serious play for bourbon enthusiasts. Lochs of Jura is the story you tell someone who thinks bourbon is a closed category.

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Oldest Known Glenrothes Cask Surfaces After 50 Years — 57-Year-Old 1969

The oldest known cask of Glenrothes single malt has been brought to market by whisky broker Mark Littler Ltd at £270,000. The 57-year-old sherry puncheon, filled on 2 January 1969, is six years older than anything the distillery has ever bottled.

Angus Kerr, a former City of London commodities trader from Surrey, bought two casks for £130 each in 1971. The selling company went bust, leaving him without ownership paperwork. The casks sat in Edrington warehousing for five decades, including a long period at the Macallan distillery, until the warehouse contacted him asking for storage fees.

The whisky sits at 42.2% ABV after 57 years in a single oak sherry puncheon, never recasked. Expected yield: around 287 bottles, roughly £940 a bottle before taxes. Charles Maclean tasted it in June and wrote: "A noble and subtle malt whisky with a flavour profile that has not been dominated by wood characteristics."

The distillery's own oldest bottling, The Glenrothes 51, launched in March 2025 in an edition of 100 bottles at £37,000 each.

Murray's take: A man loses his savings, buys two whisky casks at £130 each, the company goes bust, and 50 years later the warehouse calls asking for storage fees. That's not a tasting note. That's a screenplay. The 42.2% ABV is the remarkable number. Fifty-seven years in oak and the spirit is still above the 40% legal minimum, still alive, the flavour not buried under wood. £270,000 for a cask sounds astronomical until you do the math: £940 a bottle, competitive with the 51 Year Old at £37,000. The cask can't be recreated. That's the whole story.

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Glen Scotia's Ashley Smith on Championing Campbeltown Whisky

Ashley Smith became Glen Scotia's master blender in September 2024, having joined Loch Lomond Group from Chivas Brothers in October 2019. She started on single cask and exclusive cask expressions, learning how whisky matures and interacts with different cask types.

Campbeltown had around 30 distilleries and 9,000 inhabitants in the late 19th century. Today, three distilleries operate in the region, with Brave New Spirits' Witchburn set to join. Glen Scotia, founded in 1832, uses a rack-and-pinion mash tun that is a 2024 replica of the distillery's 120-year-old original, long fermentations, and a low-gravity wash.

The Glen Scotia signature: fruit-forward with tropical fruit, a distinctive coastal salinity, and a robust, oily spirit. The distillery added a 12-year-old to its core range in 2025, filling the gap between the NAS double cask and the 15-year-old.

At the Scotch Whisky Masters 2026, Glen Scotia took four Master medals and the competition's top honour: the Taste Master, for the Campbeltown Malts Festival Edition 2026. A seven-year-old, medium-peated whisky aged in first-fill Bourbon barrels with a final six months in ruby Port casks.

Murray's take: Campbeltown went from 30 distilleries to three. Smith's challenge is not making good whisky. The four Master medals say she is. The challenge is stock management. The distillery was mothballed through much of the eighties and nineties, which means old stock is scarce and everything she builds has to be assembled from fragments. She calls it "the world's most challenging and interesting game of Tetris." That's the real master blender job. The Taste Master win for a seven-year-old is a signal: Glen Scotia doesn't need age statements to compete.

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67-Year-Old Message Found With Scotch Bottle Under Derby Staircase

A joiner working on a £3.4m refurbishment of the Liversage Trust's almshouses on London Road, Derby, discovered a handwritten note on an empty bottle of Black and White Scotch whisky hidden behind a staircase since 12 October 1959.

The note, written on the back of a Ciro nylon hairnet packet by W H Braid of 3 Swarkestone Drive, Littleover, reads: "The best of luck mate. I hope you are not at war. It's a terrifying thing war. This was bricked up Oct 12th 1959. Just after the general election when the Conservatives got in by a 101 majority. It is raining in Derby now for the first time since about April after a first class summer. Derby 1 Portsmouth 0. Not doing so well this season Derby."

The whisky had long since evaporated. Unopened bottles of similar vintage have sold for as much as £300 at auction. Andy Mellors of the Liversage Trust said: "Someone took the time to leave a message for whoever might one day uncover it, never knowing if it would be found."

The trust has appealed for anyone who recognises the name W H Braid to get in touch.

Murray's take: Black and White is a Diageo-owned blended Scotch today, so the product gets a neutral pass. The story is the thing. A joiner in 1959 bricks up a bottle with a note about the weather, a football result, and a general election, then disappears into history. Sixty-seven years later, another joiner pulls out the staircase and finds it. The whisky is gone. The message survives. There's nothing to review here. No tasting notes, no ABV, no cask type. Just a tradesman who wanted to say hello to the future.

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Islay's First Rum Distillery Signs German Distribution Deal

The Islay Spirits Company, producer of The Original Islay Rum and the island's first dedicated rum distillery, has signed a distribution partnership with Kirsch Import, one of Germany's leading premium spirits importers. Kirsch, founded in 1976 and celebrating its 50th anniversary, supplies retailers and hospitality across Germany with more than 4,500 spirits.

The distillery operates from the restored Old Lemonade Factory in Port Ellen, with head distiller Ben Inglis leading production since January 2022. The core range: Barrel Aged (rested in ex-peated Islay whisky casks), Geal (a pure single white rum), and Peat Spiced (smoked over a peat fire). In May, the distillery released its first single cask expression, The Original Islay Rum Sherry Wood, limited to 390 bottles.

The Barrel Aged expression took Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026, scoring 98 points. It also won Gold at the IWSC 2025 and three stars at Great Taste 2026.

Christoph Kirsch of Kirsch Import said: "We get offered a lot of rum and say no to most of it, but this is their own spirit, distilled in Port Ellen, not bought in and dressed up."

Murray's take: Islay is the last place you'd expect a rum distillery, and that's the point. The peat-fired smoked rum is the expression that could only come from this island. The German deal is smart. Kirsch already sells Islay whisky to German drinkers and knows the audience will be curious. Rum aged in ex-peated Islay whisky casks is a genuine category crossover, not a marketing trick. Ninety-eight points at SFWSC says the liquid backs up the story. The limitation is volume: one distillery in Port Ellen can only make so much.

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