Bottles

Pour & Sip

Officially released 3 March 2026, this new release from one of the most famous single malts in the world couldn’t be hotter off the press! It enjoyed a lengthy finish in a combo of Apostoles, Amoroso, and Matusalem Oloroso sherry casks from the distillery’s exclusive century-long partnership with González Byass. Some of these true bodega casks held quality sherry for 30 years! Not all sherry casks are created equal, folks. Before that, it started life in bourbon casks. It’s like the 15 Year Old’s older brother, in silk slippers.

The distillery features flat-topped wash stills, and spirit stills with water jackets for added reflux. Different sizes of each are also present. Pity those planning the production runs, prize the permutations for flavour. The resultant robust and fruity new make spirit is especially well suited to the maturations Dalmore pride themselves on.

Pour & Sip

One of two ‘field to bottle’ single estate whiskies this month, Filey Bay single malt is made at the Spirit of Yorkshire distillery in God’s own county. The distillery is split in two, with mashing and fermentation taking place on co-founder Tom Mellor’s regenerative family farm, where 100% of the barley is grown (also the location of Wold Top brewery). The stills are found a couple of miles down the road in Hunmanby, where you can take a tour or pop into their Pot Still Coffee Shop.

Their Flagship release is matured in bourbon casks, but this new permanent addition to the core range is fully aged in STR (shaved, toasted and re-charred) red wine casks. Those of you who’ve been with us for a while will know that these are a speciality pioneered by the late, great consultant Jim Swan, who offered vital guidance to Spirit of Yorkshire on the road from concept to reality.

Pour & Sip

Founded in 1878, Glenrothes has long been valued by blenders, was unusually released in vintages as opposed to regular age statements between 1993-2018 (during a long association with Berry Bros. & Rudd), and benefits from the unparalleled sherry cask programme of Edrington (who also own The Macallan and Highland Park). Glenrothes’ casks are said to cost ten times the industry average, they’re known to run their tall stills very slowly (at a flow rate around half the speed of many other well-known distilleries), and also possibly use the softest water in the industry (from an underground volcanic spring).

The result is an elegant spirit that ages beautifully with rich, smooth, rewarding character. This relatively new 15 Year Old was first released at the end of 2024, using casks personally selected by master whisky maker Laura Rampling.

Pour & Sip

Kingsbarns distillery was built (within a picturesque late 18th century farmstead near St Andrews) by the Wemyss family, known for their Wemyss Malts independent whisky bottlings as well as Darnley’s Gin. It opened in late 2014, producing a light, floral and fruity spirit thanks to slow fermentation and slow distillation with a high, early cut point. Here, that’s been aged exclusively in American oak oloroso sherry butts selected to complement that fruity character.

Balcomie is part of the core range alongside Coaltown (which uses ex-peated casks and featured in Pour & Sip back in 2024), but both represent a slight departure or variation from their signature/flagship Doocot style (which is aged in 90% bourbon and 10% STR wine casks, replacing their inaugural ‘Dream to Dram’ whisky which used the same casks but was much younger).

Pour & Sip

When we think of Japanese whisky, the distilleries and brands of Suntory and Nikka usually come to mind. Ichiro Akuto, however, is the multi-award winning rock star bottler, blender, and founder of Chichibu (the first new Japanese distillery in 35 years when it started producing in 2008) who’s done more than anyone to disrupt that duopoly and lead a new wave of independent Japanese whisky makers.

The Ichiro's Malt brand actually pre-dates his distillery, and was used to bottle the final casks from his grandfather’s closed distillery of Hanyu, which became the stuff of – extremely valuable – legend. (Incredibly, Ichiro rescued these casks from being reprocessed into shochu when the family business was sold!) In this set we have Ichiro’s fascinating ‘world blend’, bringing together whiskies from America, Canada, Scotland, and Ireland, alongside Chichibu!

Pour & Sip

Tobermory distillery today distills and sells more of their Ledaig peated single malt than their eponymous unpeated single malt. Founded way back in 1798(!), historically the distillery went through periods of producing both peated and unpeated whisky, and even using both names, and it was only in 1996 that the clear delineation was thankfully established.

The Tobermory spirit, with higher cut points, is slightly oily and maritime with a green edge. Aged for an extraordinary 21 years, this whisky started in refill casks, before a long secondary maturation in oloroso sherry casks that were supposedly selected to create flavours reminiscent of foraged fruits from the Isle of Mull. And yes, the town and harbour of Tobermory with its brightly coloured houses is indeed also where the kids tv show Balamory was filmed.

Pour & Sip

We featured Glen Moray towards the end of last year, but that was their Warehouse 1 range, whereas this is something brand new (released Feb 2026) that comes complete with some tongue in cheek humour. Back in 2018 Glen Moray accidentally got themselves in hot water over a cider cask release that fell foul of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) regulations. To this day, despite some loosening of the rules around other casks, cider casks are still verboten. Don’t worry for them here though. Forbidden Fruit was instead finished in casks that previously held yummy Calvados, in this case distilled from just apples (as opposed to pears).

When Glen Moray – a classic Elgin single malt – already tastes of green toffee apples, it's a no-brainer of a combo. Super fruity, and probably one for highballs in the sun if some nice weather would just break out…

Pour & Sip

This story dates back over a century, to when Mitchell & Son – founded in 1805 as a Dublin bakery and confectionery business, and run today by the 6th and 7th generations of the Mitchell family – expanded into the wine trade in 1887, and then started filling new make spirit from the nearby Jameson Distillery into their own casks. They’d mark how long they planned to let them mature by daubing coloured ‘spots’ of paint on each one (green, red, blue, etc.).

This is single pot still Irish whiskey. A quintessentially Irish style made with both malted and unmalted barley. Green Spot was first advertised in The Irish Times back in 1925, with this limited edition marking its 100th anniversary. It’s aged in bourbon and sherry casks like the regular Green Spot, but where that’s aged between 7-10 years and bottled at 40%, this is aged for at least 10 years and bottled at 46%. Nice.

Pour & Sip

English whisky has come of age. Perhaps none more so than The Lakes. Distilling single malt since 2014, their Whiskymaker's Reserve range included the World Whiskies Awards’ World's Best Single Malt in 2022. Signature leads directly on from that range’s seven releases, becoming the first permanent version of their sumptuous sherry-led style. “I don't know anybody else in the world who's doing this", said whisky writer Dave Broom on how they’re using wood.

So erm… what is it they’re doing? The term they use is ‘élevage’, which if you’re not a Cognac or wine buff may need some elaboration… Simply put, they don’t just leave the whisky in the casks, they tinker, taste, intervene, move cask positions, recask spirit, blend during maturation, marry for over a year etc. It's a proactive and demanding way to build and layer flavour (that can also be seriously rewarding).

Pour & Sip

A single malt that’s not officially released until 4 May 2026, this one couldn’t be hotter off the press! Last May we featured a peated Bunnahabhain (pronounced ‘BOO-na-HAven’), which the distillery has increasingly produced since the 1990s. It’s still best known, however, as one that flies the flag for unpeated whisky on the isle of Islay. That’s just what we have here. Unpeated and finished in White Port (made with white grapes – think citrus and toasted nut notes) casks. A match made in heaven for often nutty, subtly coastal Bunnahabhain – An Cuan Garbh being Gaelic for ‘the rough seas’.

Bunnahabhain was founded way back in 1881, and is located on the north east of the island, on the shores of the Sound of Islay with views across to Jura. Part of the second series in the Westering Home collection, this is a release of 7,571 full-sized bottles worldwide.

Pour & Sip

The Glencadam distillery was founded back in 1825, and though it was mothballed at the turn of the millennium, family owned Angus Dundee (who also own Tomintoul) purchased it in 2003 and had it back up and running within a couple of months of the ink drying! It’s located in Brechin, a few miles from the coast between Aberdeen and Dundee, proudly reinstated a 4.3m water wheel in 2021, and has been open to visitors since 2025.

Glencadam is known to be light thanks to plenty of reflux, and can be both floral and notably creamy. Riserva di Amarone has a pronounced Amarone Italian red wine cask finish, after starting out in bourbon casks, all aged in the distillery’s traditional dunnage warehouses (think stone walled, earthen floored, casks stacked no more than three high – perfect maturation environment, but less cost effective than modern racked warehouses).

Pour & Sip

An experimental limited edition from Deanston here, a distillery founded in 1965 but housed in an 18th century cotton mill on the banks of the River Teith. It’s also powered using hydro energy from the river, just as Victorian industry in the area would have been, now selling excess electricity to the National Grid. The house style of spirit is said to be waxy, a rare and prized quality for blenders and malt lovers alike.

As mentioned on the Glen Moray card, not all casks are permissible for Scotch whisky, but since 2019 Tequila casks have been on the approved list. This will be the third we’ve featured in as many years (one of the others coming from Glen Moray), and once again their influence isn’t as extreme as you may imagine(/fear). A full two year finish in casks that previously held fruity, floral 100% agave Tequilas from the Jaliscan Highlands plays its part though.