Whisky News — 10 February 2026
Murray
🥃 DRAM MASTER DAILY — Monday, 10 February 2026
ARDBEG ANNOUNCES TRAIGH BHAN BATCH 5 AT £120 RETAIL Ardbeg's beach-aged expression returns for its fifth year, matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-oloroso casks with warehouses close enough to the sea to warrant the marketing. Retail price £120. Allocation through independent retailers. Murray's Take: Traigh Bhan remains one of the most genuinely distinctive things Ardbeg produces — the coastal maturation influence is real and measurable.
JAPANESE WHISKY PRICES HIT RECORD HIGH ON SECONDARY MARKET Data from secondary market platform Rare Whisky 101 shows Japanese whisky achieving record average auction prices in January 2026, up 23% year-on-year. Nikka expressions and older Karuizawa bottles are driving the increase. Supply constraints following the industry's production boom of the 2000s are cited as the primary cause. Murray's Take: The Karuizawa prices border on absurd, but the underlying logic is sound — you cannot make more of something that stopped being made in 2000.
SCOTCH WHISKY ASSOCIATION REPORTS RECORD EXPORT VALUE FOR 2025 The SWA has confirmed 2025 as a record year for Scotch whisky exports by value, with £6.2 billion in global exports. The United States remains the largest market by value. India has overtaken France to become the fourth-largest market. Single malts accounted for 34% of export value despite representing only 10% of volume. Murray's Take: The value-volume gap tells you everything — the industry is selling less whisky for more money, and that is not a sustainable strategy in every market.
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