Author: thedailywhisky
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Benromach 25 Years Old: a new top step for the Signature range, and the smoke is still there
Benromach 25 Years Old is the oldest whisky in Benromach’s Signature range, released in October 2026 by the Gordon & MacPhail-owned distillery in Forres, Speyside. It is matured in Bourbon and Sherry casks, bottled at 46% ABV and non-chill filtered, and the distillery describes berries, toffee apple and its trademark soft smoke on the nose,…
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Aberfeldy 27 Year Old Madeira Double Cask: six years in Madeira for the Golden Dram
A 27-year-old Aberfeldy is news on its own. A 27-year-old Aberfeldy that has spent six of those years in Madeira casks is something else entirely. The Aberfeldy 27 Year Old Madeira Double Cask was released on 20 October 2026 as the newest bottling in the distillery’s Exceptional Cask Series. The spirit spent almost 21 years…
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Best whisky for Bonfire Night: seven drams for an evening by the fire
There is a point on Bonfire Night when the last rocket fades, the fire settles into a deep orange glow and the conversation slows down. That is the moment for a proper glass of whisky. Choosing the best whisky for Bonfire Night is not about finding one perfect bottle, though. It is about matching the…
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Best smoky whiskies for Halloween: seven bottles we have tasted, from a gentle sherried Speyside to a 25 year old Ardbeg unicorn
Our seven best smoky whiskies for Halloween are Lagavulin 16 (43%, around £73), Benromach 12 (46%, around £45), Big Peat Winter Edition 10 Year Old (48%, around £59), Smokehead 15 (43%, around £66), Laphroaig 14 Year Old Willem Dafoe Edition (53.7%, around £135), Port Askaig 25 (45.8%, around £350) and Ardbeg Vintage Y2K 25 Years…
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Calvados cask whisky: seven bottles that show what Normandy’s apple brandy brings to the glass
Calvados cask whisky is whisky matured or finished in oak casks that previously held calvados, the apple brandy of Normandy. The cask typically adds crisp apple, pear and, with longer contact, baked apple and pastry notes. In this guide we cover seven bottles across England, Scotland and Ireland, from White Peak’s lightly peated Wire Works…
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Whisky vs calvados: what separates the grain spirit from Normandy’s apple brandy
The core difference in whisky vs calvados is the raw material. Whisky is distilled from a fermented grain mash, most often malted barley, while calvados is distilled from cider (and sometimes perry) made from Normandy apples and pears. Calvados is protected by three French appellations: AOC Calvados, AOC Calvados Pays d’Auge (double distilled in copper…
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Whisky Advent Calendar 2026: seven calendars worth ordering now, from first dram to old and rare
The best whisky advent calendar 2026 depends on who is opening the doors. For a first calendar, Master of Malt’s 12 Dram (£74.95) and The Whisky Advent Calendar (£99.95, around £4 a dram) are the easy starting points. The Whisky Exchange’s Whiskies of the World (£120) travels from Korea to China to Taiwan. Peat lovers…
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Master of Malt flavoured whisky: Gingerbread, Mint Choc and Peanut Butter at a proper 40%
Master of Malt flavoured whisky is a new trio of 40% ABV spirits from the UK retailer and independent bottler: Gingerbread, Mint Chocolate and Peanut Butter. Each starts with cask-matured whisky, infused with natural flavourings and given a small amount of natural sweetening. Because whisky cannot legally be flavoured or sweetened, the label reads “spirit…
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Cutty Sark limited edition: Glasgow artist Rory Kennedy repaints the clipper
The new Cutty Sark limited edition is a redesigned bottle of Cutty Sark Original blended Scotch whisky, decorated with a hand-painted illustration by Glasgow-based artist Rory Kennedy. Owner La Martiniquaise-Bardinet presented it at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes in early October 2026. The whisky inside is unchanged: the same 40% ABV Original blend. The…
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Nikka Frontier lands in the UK: a peat-led, 48% tribute to Masataka Taketsuru, exclusive to Majestic
Nikka Frontier is a new permanent blended whisky from Nikka Whisky, built on heavily peated malt from the Yoichi distillery in Hokkaido and rounded off with Nikka’s Coffey grain. Malt makes up 51% of the blend. It is bottled at 48% ABV, non-chill filtered, without an age statement, in a 500ml bottle. First released in…
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