THEDAILYWHISKY

The most interesting bottle in Infrequent Flyers Batch 21 is a 33-year-old single grain that has spent time in virgin Ozark oak, a cask type you can go years without seeing on a Scotch label. Around it sits a batch built almost entirely on unusual wood: chinquapin oak, Premier Cru Bordeaux, Barolo, ruby port. This is the Alistair Walker Whisky Company doing what the range is named for, releasing whiskies that only turn up occasionally and rarely look like anything else on the shelf.

Batch 21 is seven single casks in total: six single malts and one single grain, aged from 13 to 33 years, carrying AWW release numbers 186 to 192. All were bottled in 2026, all at cask strength, and all are stocked at Hard To Find Whisky with worldwide shipping.

The key facts

Every bottle is a natural cask strength single cask, non-chill-filtered and bottled in 2026 at 70cl. Prices run from £79.95 for the Glen Moray to £259.95 for the 27-year-old Undisclosed Speyside. The smallest outturn is 200 bottles (Undisclosed Speyside); the largest is 333 (Auchroisk). Five of the seven come from Speyside, alongside one peated Islay malt and one Lowland grain from North British.

Who is Alistair Walker and what is Infrequent Flyers?

Infrequent Flyers is the single cask range from the Alistair Walker Whisky Company, an independent bottler founded in 2019. Walker comes from a well-known whisky family, and the range has built its reputation on one idea: buy interesting individual casks, often from distilleries or wood types that rarely appear as single malts, and bottle them without chill filtration or added colour, usually at full cask strength.

The name is the whole pitch. These are not standing releases. A cask appears, it gets bottled, and when it is gone it is gone. Batch 21 leans harder into unusual wood than most, with two American oak variants (Ozark virgin oak and chinquapin) sitting next to a spread of European wine casks.

The standouts

If you only chase a few from this batch, three stand out.

The North British 33 Year Old is the headline for a reason: single grain at this age is uncommon, and virgin Ozark oak is a genuinely rare finish that pushes it toward baked-pear, marzipan and dark chocolate territory rather than the light toffee grain usually gives.

The Undisclosed Speyside 27 Year Old is the batch’s investment piece at £259.95 and its smallest run at 200 bottles. Chinquapin oak, a white oak species seldom used for Scotch, is the draw here, and it delivers a dense, honeycomb-and-spice profile.

The Undisclosed Islay 18 Year Old is the one for peat drinkers. An 18-year Islay malt in a peated oloroso sherry cask is the classic smoke-meets-sweetness pairing, and at £119.95 it is the most accessible of the batch’s more unusual casks.

The full Batch 21 lineup

North British 33 Year Old Infrequent Flyers Single Ozark Virgin Oak Cask #7134 (AWW 186)

• Nose: baked pears, marzipan, dark chocolate, cocoa-rich Bounty bar
• Palate: Battenberg cake, cannoli shell, star anise, honey
• Finish: long, honeyed, vanilla oak, almond marzipan, dark chocolate, waxy baked pear
• ABV: 49.4% | Cask: Ozark virgin oak | Vintage: 1992 | Bottles: 221 | Price: £129.95

Undisclosed Speyside 27 Year Old Infrequent Flyers Single Chinquapin Oak Cask #802366 (AWW 187)

• Nose: banana fritter, honey, delicate marzipan, almond
• Palate: honeycomb, Demerara sugar, nutmeg, black pepper, weighty
• Finish: long, honeyed, Demerara sweetness, warming nutmeg and pepper, resinous oak
• ABV: 53.6% | Cask: chinquapin oak | Vintage: 1998 | Bottles: 200 | Price: £259.95

Craigellachie 18 Year Old Infrequent Flyers Single Premier Cru Bordeaux Cask #1828 (AWW 188)

• Nose: signature Craigellachie savoury funk, red grapes, rum and raisin, balsamic glaze
• Palate: red-wine sweetness, red plums, cranberries, blood orange, golden syrup, nutmeg
• Finish: long, red-wine depth, blood orange zest, savoury oak, gently tannic
• ABV: 58.6% | Cask: Premier Cru Bordeaux | Vintage: 2007 | Bottles: 266 | Price: £104.95

Undisclosed Islay 18 Year Old Infrequent Flyers Single Peated Oloroso Sherry Cask #807402 (AWW 189)

• Nose: baked peach, cranberries, sweet smoke, blood orange, cracked black pepper
• Palate: Islay peat and oloroso, bog myrtle over embers, dark chocolate, stewed sultanas, Amarena cherries, cinnamon
• Finish: long, smoky, velvety, dark chocolate and sultanas, cinnamon warmth
• ABV: 53.7% | Cask: peated oloroso sherry | Vintage: 2011 | Bottles: 322 | Price: £119.95

Glen Moray 14 Year Old Infrequent Flyers Single Ruby Port Cask #2351 (AWW 190)

• Nose: tangy peach, blood orange, lime, dark chocolate-coated nuts, cacao
• Palate: buckwheat honey, muscovado sugar, figs, apricots, port-cask oak and spice
• Finish: long, fig and apricot, cocoa-dusted nuts, warm oak spice
• ABV: 56.9% | Cask: ruby port | Vintage: 2011 | Bottles: 322 | Price: £79.95

Benrinnes 14 Year Old Infrequent Flyers Single Barolo Cask #7110 (AWW 191)

• Nose: toasted oak, gooseberry, kiwi, nectarine
• Palate: sweet peppery spice, ginger snaps, apricot, salted caramel
• Finish: long, ginger snaps and pepper into apricot and salted caramel, soft oak fade
• ABV: 57.4% | Cask: Barolo | Vintage: 2012 | Bottles: 282 | Price: £84.95

Auchroisk 13 Year Old Infrequent Flyers Single Pedro Ximénez Cask #9088 (AWW 192)

• Nose: ripe Conference pear, espresso, almond praline
• Palate: cocoa, molten Demerara sugar, crème brûlée, nutmeg
• Finish: long, Demerara and cocoa, crème brûlée, PX sweetness, espresso, praline
• ABV: 56.8% | Cask: Pedro Ximénez | Vintage: 2012 | Bottles: 333 | Price: £81.95

Batch 21 at a glance

Bottle	Age	Cask	ABV	Bottles	Price
North British	33	Ozark virgin oak	49.4%	221	£129.95
Undisclosed Speyside	27	Chinquapin oak	53.6%	200	£259.95
Craigellachie	18	Premier Cru Bordeaux	58.6%	266	£104.95
Undisclosed Islay	18	Peated oloroso sherry	53.7%	322	£119.95
Glen Moray	14	Ruby port	56.9%	322	£79.95
Benrinnes	14	Barolo	57.4%	282	£84.95
Auchroisk	13	Pedro Ximénez	56.8%	333	£81.95

Price and availability

Batch 21 is available now at Hard To Find Whisky, priced from £79.95 to £259.95 per 70cl bottle. HTFW ships internationally, including across Europe, the US and worldwide, so readers outside the UK can order directly. Given outturns as low as 200 bottles, the older and rarer casks are the ones most likely to sell through first.

Our take on it

The value in Batch 21 sits at the ends, not the middle. The three younger wine-cask Speysiders, Glen Moray, Benrinnes and Auchroisk, are solid cask-strength drams under £85, but none of them is doing something you cannot find elsewhere in the independent scene. The reason to pay attention is the top of the range.

The North British 33 Year Old is the pick for anyone who enjoys old grain and wants a virgin-oak profile that grain rarely gets to show. The Undisclosed Speyside 27 Year Old is the one for collectors, less about value and more about owning a chinquapin-matured Speyside at nearly three decades old. And the peated Islay 18 Year Old is the crowd-pleaser: buy it if you want smoke and sherry and do not want to overthink it.

If you can only take one, take the North British. It is the most unusual bottle in a batch built on unusual wood.

Frequently asked questions

What is Infrequent Flyers Batch 21? Infrequent Flyers Batch 21 is a 2026 release of seven single cask Scotch whiskies from the independent bottler Alistair Walker Whisky Company. It contains six single malts and one single grain, aged 13 to 33 years, all bottled at cask strength and stocked at Hard To Find Whisky, carrying AWW release numbers 186 to 192.

How much does Infrequent Flyers Batch 21 cost? Prices range from £79.95 for the Glen Moray 14 Year Old to £259.95 for the Undisclosed Speyside 27 Year Old, per 70cl bottle. The North British 33 Year Old is £129.95 and the peated Undisclosed Islay 18 Year Old is £119.95. All are sold at Hard To Find Whisky.

Which is the rarest bottle in Batch 21? The Undisclosed Speyside 27 Year Old has the smallest outturn at 200 bottles and the most unusual cask, chinquapin oak. The North British 33 Year Old is the oldest and the only single grain in the batch, matured in rare virgin Ozark oak.

What casks are used in Infrequent Flyers Batch 21? The batch spans Ozark virgin oak, chinquapin oak, Premier Cru Bordeaux, peated oloroso sherry, ruby port, Barolo and Pedro Ximénez. It is unusually wood-forward, with two American oak types alongside a spread of European wine casks.

Where can I buy Infrequent Flyers Batch 21? Batch 21 is available from Hard To Find Whisky, which ships worldwide including across Europe and the US. With some casks limited to 200 bottles, the older releases are likely to sell first.

Is Infrequent Flyers a good bottler? Infrequent Flyers has built a strong reputation for single casks from unusual distilleries and wood types, bottled without chill filtration or colouring and usually at natural cask strength. It is a good choice for drinkers who want individual, characterful casks rather than standardised releases.