DramMaster Daily Whisky News — 18 September 2026

By Murray

The Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask Uses Valdespino Casks for the First Time

The Macallan has released TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask, a 20-year-old single malt and the third chapter in its TIME : SPACE Collection. The whisky is bottled at 44.8% ABV and carries a recommended retail price of £1,100. What makes this release different is the cask seasoning: for the first time, The Macallan has used sherry from its own Valdespino bodega in Jerez de la Frontera to season the oak casks.

The Macallan acquired Valdespino and now oversees every stage of the sherry seasoning process. The whisky was matured predominantly in European oak sherry-seasoned casks, then married in a selection of the first 200 casks seasoned with Valdespino sherry at The Macallan's cooperage in Jerez. Those casks were crafted and shipped to Scotland for filling in 2024, during the brand's 200th anniversary year.

Kirsteen Campbell, Master Whisky Maker at The Macallan, said: "TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask celebrates an exciting milestone in The Macallan's ownership of our Sherry seasoning, as the first whisky to be influenced by casks seasoned with our own Valdespino Sherry." The nose delivers sherry-soaked raisins, figs, Medjool dates, frangipane, cinder toffee, and dark chocolate. The palate follows with dried fruits, ginger cake, treacle toffee, bramble jam, chocolate-coated cherries, and espresso.

The whisky is available now exclusively from The Macallan Boutique at Harrods, ahead of a wider release through select specialist retailers in October.

Murray's take: Owning the bodega means The Macallan controls the entire cask seasoning chain from grape to glass. Whether that produces better whisky or just better marketing is a fair question, but a 20-year-old married in the first 200 Valdespino-seasoned casks is a genuine milestone. £1,100 for a Harrods-exclusive 20-year-old is premium territory, and the secondary market will decide whether the Valdespino provenance adds a premium on top of the Macallan name alone.

---

Japanese Whisky Up 44% in Global Travel Retail While Cognac Slumps

IWSR data for 2025 reveals Japanese whisky was the standout spirits segment in global travel retail, posting 44% value growth and 37% volume growth. Scotch and American whiskey each recorded 10% value gains, while Irish whiskey rose 11%. Overall spirits volumes in GTR rose 6% with value up 7%, and whisky drove the growth with a 12% value increase.

Charlotte Reid, IWSR senior insights manager for GTR, attributed Japanese whisky's boom to "strong cultural cachet, traveller curiosity and a genuine willingness by consumers to spend at or above the premium tier." Agave spirits also performed strongly, with 10% volume growth and 28% value growth.

Cognac and brandy suffered what IWSR called one of its worst declines in several decades. Volumes fell 6% and value dropped 8%. The premium XO segment was hit hardest as gifting occasions weakened, though VS cognac benefited from growing use in cocktails. Reid said recovery will depend on "accessible entry-level expressions and repositioning beyond gifting into self-purchase."

Looking to 2030, IWSR projects Scotch will dominate the growth opportunity in GTR, with Japanese whisky and Irish whiskey leading momentum. Cognac is projected to be essentially flat.

Murray's take: The numbers tell a clear story. Travellers are spending on Japanese whisky and agave spirits, and walking past Cognac. The cognac industry's reliance on gifting is the vulnerability. When gifting occasions weaken, the category has nothing else. Japanese whisky's advantage is that travellers buy it for themselves, not for someone else. The 2030 forecast favouring Scotch is sensible: Scotch has the volume base and the global recognition. But the momentum is Japanese.

---

Glendronach Boynsmill House Edition Combines Sherry and Claret Casks

The Glendronach has released Boynsmill House Edition, a 14-year-old single malt priced at $125 and bottled at 46.8% ABV. The whisky is matured in a combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks sourced from Spain, with a small amount of whisky aged in Claret red wine casks from Bordeaux added to the mix. It is available now at select retailers.

The release is named after Boynsmill House, the building on the distillery grounds built in the late 18th century along the River Burn. James Allardice founded the distillery on this site in 1826, making this a 200th anniversary release. The Glendronach has been owned by Brown-Forman since 2016 and is known for maturing its single malts entirely in sherry-seasoned casks. The addition of Claret casks is a departure from that regimen.

Master blender Dr. Rachel Barrie said: "In this expression, I find the character that has long made the Glendronach so distinctive: plush ripe malt, Highland toffee, bramble, and raisin layered with subtle notes of stone fruit and plum, leading to a mellow, velvety finish." The Claret casks add red berry fruit to the sherry character.

Murray's take: Glendronach adding Claret casks to its sherry-only maturation programme is a quiet but real shift. The distillery built its reputation on Oloroso and PX, and a 14-year-old at $125 with a Bordeaux red wine cask component is an experiment, not a revolution. The 200th anniversary framing gives it context. Whether the Claret adds anything the sherry casks alone could not is a question for the glass.

---

The Balmoral Hotel Opens Hand-Bottling Experience with 21-Year-Old Deanston

The Balmoral, the Rocco Forte hotel at the east end of Princes Street in Edinburgh, has opened a whisky bottling experience at SCOTCH, its whisky bar. Guests draw spirit straight from a private barrel, fill and sign their own bottle, and take it home. The whisky is a 21-year-old Highland single malt from Deanston, matured in Palo Cortado sherry casks. It is the oldest release Deanston has ever produced and cannot be bought anywhere beyond that room.

The whisky was selected by SCOTCH Manager Ross Barr and his team of Whisky Ambassadors. The bar holds more than 500 bottles and already runs tastings and whisky journeys. The bottling experience sits alongside the existing programme rather than standing alone. The announcement does not include a price, so anyone planning to expense it should check the cost at the bar first.

The experience is aimed at business travellers who want something unrepeatable. Distillery hand-filling stations are common in Speyside and the Highlands, but they usually require a day trip. Doing the same thing in a city-centre bar two minutes from Waverley station puts it within reach of an evening between meetings.

Murray's take: A 21-year-old Deanston matured in Palo Cortado is a serious whisky for a hotel bar exclusive. Deanston does not get the attention of its Highland neighbours, and its oldest release appearing only at a Edinburgh hotel bar is a smart piece of scarcity. The missing price is the catch. If this is priced as a luxury experience, it works. If it is priced as a standard dram plus a bottle, the maths gets awkward for the hotel. Either way, you cannot buy it online, and that is the point.

---

Workers at Diageo's Cameronbridge Distillery Set to Strike for Three Weeks

More than 100 Unite members at Diageo's Cameronbridge distillery in Fife will walk out from 28 September for three weeks, in a dispute over proposed job cuts. Cameronbridge is Europe's largest grain distillery and produces the grain spirit used in blends including Johnnie Walker, Bell's, and Haig. The strike action runs through to 15 October, with different groups of workers taking action on successive days.

The dispute centres on Diageo's plan to cut 10 roles at the site. Unite accused Diageo of failing to consult workers properly. Diageo said the dispute is limited to 10 roles, with eight people affected because two positions are vacant. The company said the cuts are necessary because it has reduced production at the distillery and expects to maintain lower grain distillation levels over the next few years. Diageo said it has alternative roles available and remains in talks with Unite and GMB Scotland.

A Diageo spokesman said: "We are disappointed by the decision to strike. The proposal to remove up to 10 roles at Cameronbridge Distillery is necessary as we maintain reduced production volumes to protect the long-term competitiveness of our business." The strike is the first industrial action since Sir Dave Lewis announced a sweeping cost-cutting drive at the drinks giant. Cameronbridge employs around 200 people, with approximately 70 roles currently under review.

Murray's take: Ten roles at Europe's largest grain distillery does not sound like much, but the supply chain is concentrated. Cameronbridge makes the grain spirit for Johnnie Walker, Bell's, and Haig. Three weeks of strike action will not empty the warehouses, but it signals that Diageo's cost-cutting programme is meeting resistance on the shop floor. The company says reduced production is permanent, not temporary. If grain distillation capacity is being taken offline long-term, the blended whisky market will feel it eventually.

---

Got a tip or story we should cover? Email [email protected]