Author: thedailywhisky
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Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2026: the distillery’s oldest blend yet, at cask strength from a limestone cellar
Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2026 is the most mature whisky the distillery has bottled under this label, blending 11, 12 and 14-year-old bourbon around a single idea: age to taste, not to a number. That maturity comes from a specific place. After the standard time in the warehouses, the bourbon finishes in a LEED-certified cellar cut into the limestone shelf beneath Star Hill Farm, where…
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Pōkeno Ringbearer: the official Lord of the Rings single malt comes from a farm distillery north of Hobbiton
Twenty-five years after the Fellowship left the Shire, Pōkeno Ringbearer has arrived: the first officially licensed Lord of the Rings single malt, made by a small family distillery a day’s walk north of Hobbiton. Pōkeno Whisky Co. in New Zealand makes it, and the release marks the 25th anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring.…
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Bardstown Bourbon’s Lochs of Jura and 2026 Discovery: a 99-point Scotch-cask bourbon meets a rare Oregon oak finish
For two months, the highest-scoring spirit at the 2026 International Wine & Spirit Competition was a whiskey nobody could buy. That changes on 21 August. Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Lochs of Jura took 99 points at this year’s IWSC, the single best score in the entire North American field and one of only five spirits to reach the…
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Glen Scotia Unlocked No.6: a 10-year-old Campbeltown malt finished in first fill Jamaican rum casks
Campbeltown is a region built on salt and oil, so a Glen Scotia release leaning into mango and pineapple is the sort of thing that makes you look twice. Unlocked No.6 does exactly that. It is a 10-year-old single malt finished in first fill Jamaican rum casks, bottled at 56% ABV, and priced at £95…
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Types of whisky: a global guide to the styles, regions and countries worth knowing
The first whisky that really landed for us was a Lagavulin 16 from Islay: coastal, gently smoked, unmistakably from one specific place. The second was a Glenallachie 12 from Speyside. Sitting the two side by side, the penny dropped. This was not one drink with minor variations. These were two different worlds sharing a name.…
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Whisky vs Whiskey: What’s the Difference?
We named this publication The Daily Whisky. No e. And when we started out, we genuinely weren’t sure that was the right call, because like a lot of people, we’d only ever really seen the word spelled whisky. Then we spent enough time around the spirit to notice that both spellings were everywhere, sitting side…
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What is Scotch whisky? The rules, the five regions, and why no two drams taste the same
Scotch whisky is whisky made and matured in Scotland for at least three years in oak casks, distilled below 94.8% ABV and bottled at a minimum of 40%. By law it can contain only water, malted barley (with other cereals allowed for grain whisky), yeast, and plain caramel for colour. That is the definition on…
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Whisky ABV and proof, explained: what strength really does to your dram
Sitting at Copenhagen Distillery, tasting the same whisky at cask strength, then two percent lower, then two percent lower again, all the way down to twenty percent, teaches you something no label ever will. We were there to help choose the bottling strength, and by the time we reached the bottom of the range the…
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Torabhaig Distiller’s Series: two Skye single malts designed by the distillers who dreamed them up
Most single malts are signed off by a whiskymaker. These two were signed off by the people who mash, ferment and run the stills. Torabhaig has released the first bottlings in its Distiller’s Series, and the whole idea is that each one is designed end to end by an individual member of the distillery team.…
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Leith Bond releases four single cask single malts: Bunnahabhain, Ben Nevis, Benriach and Royal Brackla
The Leith Bond single cask series has a new batch, four distilleries, four idioms on the labels, and not a drop of it distilled in Leith. Port of Leith Distillery has added a new batch to its Leith Bond series, and it is a neat reminder of how a young distillery builds a whisky reputation…
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