DramMaster Daily Whisky News — 14 September 2026

By Murray

Trump Scraps Irish Whiskey Tariff at Doonbeg

President Donald Trump announced the removal of US tariffs on Irish whiskey during a trophy ceremony at his Doonbeg golf course in County Clare on 13 September. Presenting the Irish Open trophy to Shane Lowry, Trump said the Taoiseach and Lowry had both raised the issue. "Everybody's been bugging me," he said. "And I said, on behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off."

Irish whiskey entering the US currently carries a 10% tariff, down from 15% earlier this year. It was part of the duties the Trump administration imposed on EU exports. Trump previously removed tariffs on UK spirits, including Scotch, in late April following a state visit by King Charles III. Timing and implementation details were not immediately available. The Irish Times reported that Taoiseach Micheál Martin had raised the issue during their meeting at Farmleigh the previous day.

Murray's take: A 10% tariff was never going to destroy Irish whiskey — exports to the US have been growing regardless — but removing it clears a margin obstacle that distillers large and small will feel immediately. Midleton and Bushmills gain breathing room on volume products; the smaller and newer distilleries gain a path to competitive shelf pricing in the world's biggest spirits market. The fact that it was announced at a golf ceremony rather than a trade press conference tells you how whisky policy actually gets made.

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Whisky Waste to Biofuel: Celtic Renewables Scales Up at Grangemouth

A Scottish company is turning whisky industry leftovers into fuel and industrial chemicals using a century-old fermentation process. Celtic Renewables, spun out of Edinburgh Napier University by Professor Martin Tangney, operates a biorefinery beside the petrochemical complex at Grangemouth that feeds distillery waste to bacteria.

Scotland's whisky industry produces almost 750,000 tonnes of spent barley grains (draff) and two billion litres of pot ale every year. Celtic Renewables uses acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation, employing Clostridium acetobutylicum to convert sugars in draff and pot ale into three solvents: acetone, ethanol, and butanol.

Butanol is the prize. Its energy content sits close enough to gasoline that it can run in an unmodified engine as a direct replacement. In 2017, the company drove a Ford on Scottish roads using biobutanol made from whisky residue, nothing changed under the hood. Celtic Renewables has since broadened its pitch toward higher-value sustainable chemicals — bio-acetone and bio-butanol for paints, pharmaceuticals, and eventually aviation fuel. A next-generation Grangemouth facility, backed by £9 million from the Scottish government, is designed to process more waste and accept other food-industry leftovers beyond whisky.

Murray's take: ABE fermentation is not new. It made the acetone Britain needed for munitions in the First World War, then the petrochemical boom killed it. Celtic Renewables pointed the chemistry at a feedstock the whisky industry has always wanted to get rid of. The demonstrator plant is small and the output is a rounding error against national fuel demand, but the logic is sound: nobody grows barley to make draff. The draff already exists as a by-product of a thing the world was going to make anyway.

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Adelphi Glasgow 2016 10 Year Old: Virgin Oak Lowland Single Cask

Independent bottler Adelphi has released a 10-year-old single malt from the Glasgow distillery, bottled from cask #845. Distilled in 2016, the whisky spent a decade in a virgin oak hogshead before bottling in 2026. The outturn was 258 bottles, at natural colour, non-chill filtered, and cask strength: 58.1% ABV. It retails at around $130.

The Glasgow distillery's unpeated spirit was reviewed by The Whiskey Wash, which rated it 9 out of 10. The nose carries caramel, floral vanilla, toasted coconut, fresh oak, and cinnamon spice. The palate opens with toffee and vanilla fudge, baked apple, and toasted coconut, shifting to malty notes, cinnamon, brandy snaps, and peppery oak. The finish is warming with caramel, chocolate, and toasted oak alongside baking spices. The reviewer noted the virgin oak cask imparted heavy caramel and vanilla character but that this worked well with Glasgow's spirit rather than overwhelming it.

Murray's take: Virgin oak is an aggressive cask. It does not sit politely in the background. A 10-year-old Lowland spirit from a distillery that started production in 2016 holding its own against virgin oak for a full decade tells you the Glasgow spirit has weight. 258 bottles at 58.1% is not a wide release — it is a single cask for people who follow Adelphi's selection, and the 9-out-of-10 rating suggests the selection held up.

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Pappy Van Winkle 2026: Prices Jump 30%, Still Trail Secondary by $1,000+

The Van Winkle family and Buffalo Trace Distillery announced the 2026 Van Winkle collection on 10 September, with higher suggested retail prices for five of its six bottles. The largest increase is 30% on the Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13-Year-Old, which moves from $229.99 to $299.99. The 23-Year-Old remains unchanged at $499.99.

The full lineup: Old Rip Van Winkle 10-Year-Old rises from $149.99 to $169.99 (+13%); Special Reserve 12-Year-Old from $169.99 to $199.99 (+18%); Family Reserve Rye 13-Year-Old from $229.99 to $299.99 (+30%); Family Reserve 15-Year-Old from $239.99 to $299.99 (+25%); Family Reserve 20-Year-Old from $359.99 to $399.99 (+11%); and the 23-Year-Old stays at $499.99. The combined suggested price has risen 110% since 2022, from $889.94 to $1,869.94, while US consumer prices rose about 12.5% over the same period.

Even after the increases, suggested retail remains far below secondary-market value. Bottle Blue Book values the 23-year-old at $2,580 to $2,860, the 15-year-old at $1,280 to $1,420, and the 10-year-old at $520 to $580. In February, 59,448 people entered Virginia's lottery for 46 bottles of the 15-Year-Old. The wider bourbon secondary market has cooled about 11% below 2024 levels, but Van Winkle bottles trade more like blue-chip collectibles, settling into durable ranges rather than collapsing.

Murray's take: A $70 increase on a rye that resells for $1,600 is not a price hike. It is a pricing correction that does not arrive. The gap between MSRP and auction value is the product, not a market inefficiency. When 59,448 people enter a lottery for 46 bottles, the suggested price is a theoretical construct. The 23-year-old staying flat at $499.99 while reselling for $2,580-plus is the clearest signal: the MSRP is connected to a story the family wants to tell about restraint, not to the value.

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Seven Award-Winning Irish Whiskeys Under $60

The Whiskey Wash published a roundup of seven Irish whiskeys that won medals at major 2026 competitions, all under $60. The list covers single malt, rye, single pot still, and blended whiskey.

Powers Irish Rye ($35/£25) took Best Irish Rye at the World Whiskies Awards 2026. Made from 100% Irish-grown rye and produced by Irish Distillers at Midleton, it is the cheapest bottle on the list. Hinch Single Malt Small Batch ($43/£31.99) won Best Irish Small Batch Single Malt at the WWA 2026, matured in ex-bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks by head distiller Emma Millar at the County Down distillery that started production in 2020. Powers Gold Label ($35/£27) won Gold at the ISC 2026, combining pot still and grain whiskey matured in American oak.

Titanic Distillers 5 Year Old Pot Still (£59) won Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026. Sourced rather than distilled on site at the Belfast distillery that opened in 2023 beside the Thompson Graving Dock, it is made from equal parts malted and unmalted barley, bottled at 46% ABV. Tullamore D.E.W. Special Reserve 12 Year Old ($53/£57) scored 98 points and won Gold Outstanding at the IWSC 2026, the top tier. West Cork 7 Year Old Single Malt (£48) took Double Gold at SFWSC 2026, spending four years in first-fill Bodega Oloroso casks from Cádiz before three years in first-fill bourbon barrels. Bushmills 12 Year Old Single Malt ($59/£35) won Gold at the ISC 2026, finished for six to nine months in Marsala wine casks from Sicily after maturation in sherry and bourbon casks.

Murray's take: The variety is the story. Seven bottles, four styles, three competitions, and distilleries at completely different stages — Powers tracing back to 1791, Hinch producing for barely five years, Titanic Distillers open since 2023. A $35 rye and a $59 Marsala-finished single malt both winning Gold in the same year tells you Irish whiskey's strength is not in one style. It is in the breadth. When a 98-point IWSC Gold Outstanding winner costs $53, the question is why more people are not exploring the category further.

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