Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round-up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way into our WFE email. Inbox features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Here is this week’s whisky news.
Diageo
Scotland’s largest whisky producer has announced special bottlings for its two Islay distilleries that will be exclusively on sale at this year’s Fèis Ìle. The annual festival on Scotland’s famous whisky island is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Diageo is releasing two single malts from Lagavulin and another from Caol Ila. The trio are all bottled at their natural cask strength and are non-chill filtered and of natural colour.
The Lagavulin 14-year-old Fèis Ìle 2026 has been matured in American oak ex-Oloroso sherry casks and is bottled at 56.5% ABV. Each bottle will cost £240. In addition, the Lagavulin 31-year-old ‘Skies of Fèis Ìle’ is one of the oldest whiskies from Lagavulin to be released. It was initially matured in ex-bourbon barrels before undergoing a decade-long finish in heavily charred American oak ex-Oloroso sherry casks. Each bottle will cost £2,800. Both were selected by Jordan Paisley, the Distillery manager at Lagavulin.
The third bottling is the Caol Ila 11-year-old Fèis Ìle 2026 – Tequila Caol Ila. It has been matured in American oak ex-Tequila casks from the Don Julio distillery in Mexico. The whisky is bottled at 56.1% ABV and will cost £145. The Fèis Ìle 2026 bottles will be available from their respective distillery open days during the festival on a first come, first served basis – Lagavulin (May 23) and Caol Ila (May 25). Any remaining bottles will be on sale at each location after. The exact number of bottles for each release was not in the press release.
Glenallachie
The independent Speyside distillery of Glenallachie has announced the fourth bottling in its Sherry Series. The Glenallachie Palo Cortado Sherry Cask Matured 11 Years Old was initially aged in American oak ex-bourbon barrels. It has then enjoyed a lengthy secondary maturation in rare ex-Palo Cortado sherry casks. These were sourced from Jerez, Spain.
The Glenallachie Palo Cortado Sherry Cask Matured 11 Years Old is bottled at 48% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It is available now at the Glenallachie distillery shop, which is near the town of Aberlour in the Speyside region of Scotland, via www.glenallachie.com and then selected retailers in selected world markets in the coming months. A bottle will cost £63.
Kilchoman
The farm-to-bottle Islay distillery of Kilchoman has announced details of their annual Loch Gorm release. The whisky, which is named after the dark peaty freshwater loch located near the distillery, has become a cult favourite. The Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2026 Edition has been matured in ex-Oloroso casks from Bodega José y Miguel Martín in Spain for a minimum of 10 years.
Just 23 casks make up the 2026 batch – 20x European oak first-fill ex-Oloroso and 3x American oak re-fill ex-Oloroso. All were selected by Anthony Wills, the founder of Kilchoman. The whisky is bottled at 46% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It is available now from the Kilchoman website and selected specialist whisky retailers in selected world markets. A bottle will cost £76.
Maker’s Mark
The American whisky brand of Maker’s Mark® has announced the second release of Star Hill Farm Whisky, the brand’s first new mash bill and first wheat whisky in 70 years. It follows the celebrated inaugural release from last year. The Star Hill Farm Whisky 2026 Edition is crafted from two mash bills: one made entirely from malted wheat, and another made from 70% wheat and 30% malted barley. The wheat used features soft red winter wheat, plus hard red and hard white wheat varietals.
The wheat used has all been grown on the Star Hill Farm estate with regenerative farming methods. Star Hill Farm Whisky is also the first whisky to earn Estate Whiskey certification from the Estate Whiskey Alliance® as a result. The 2026 Edition is bottled at 58.2% ABV and will be available in specialist whisky retailers in selected world markets from mid-May. A bottle is expected to sell for US$135/ £100.
White Peak
The award-winning English distillery of White Peak has kicked off its 10th anniversary year with a new limited edition single malt. The Wire Works Caduro X is a special bottling of their core Caduro expression. It is a vatting of first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and signature STR (shaved, toasted and re-charred) ex-red wine casks. It also features spirits taken from ‘regular cut’ and ‘alternate cut’ distillations for extra character.
Wire Works Caduro X is bottled at 46.8% ABV. It has been reduced using their ‘special waters’ technique, which involves the maturation of low-strength spirit in oak casks that is then used for dilution. The whisky is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. There are just 1,000 bottles, which are released tomorrow (April 25). They will be available at the distillery, via the White Peak website and at selected specialist UK retailers. A bottle will cost £75.
