Both sides of the pond have announced some notable new releases in this week's wrap-up. From Ireland, Redbreast has a new single pot still whiskey finished in Málaga moscatel wine casks, while scotch whisky blending house Compass Box's annual release of Hedonism drops February 24th. Among single malt scotch whiskies, Macallan has a James Bond tribute, and Ardbeg has unveiled its 2026 Committee Release, this one a cask strength expression. American whiskeys, meanwhile, announced several new bottlings this week. Most renowned among them—and also the most rarely seen—is Michter's Celebration Sour Mash, which has been released only five times over the past 30 years. Other new whiskies this week include bourbons from Woodford Reserve and Green River, ryes from Stoll & Wolfe and Shiner, and a straight malt from Chattanooga Whiskey.
Redbreast Moscatel Wine Cask Edition Irish Single Pot Still
ABV: 46%
SRP: $110
Availability: Widely; imported by Pernod Ricard USA
Redbreast Moscatel Wine Cask Edition is the fifth release in the brand’s Iberian Series, crafted by master blender David McCabe. The triple-distilled Irish single pot still whiskey was initially matured in American whiskey and Spanish oloroso sherry casks, then finished 16 months in Málaga moscatel wine casks from Bodegas Quitapenas. These European oak hogsheads are seasoned with moscatel wine for two years before being shipped to Midleton Distillery, where they are filled with a bespoke batch of Redbreast.
The Iberian Series celebrates wine and spirit merchants W&A Gilbey’s, the founders of Redbreast, and their history of importing fortified wines and sherries starting back in the late 1800s. Irish Distillers launched the series in 2021; the new release joins the 93-point Pedro Ximénez Edition, the 92-point Tawny Port Cask Edition, and the 93-point Cuatro Bariles Edition.
Compass Box Hedonism 2026 Release Blended Grain Scotch
ABV: 46%
SRP: $165
Availability: Global limited release of 13,218 bottles
Releasing February 24th, this year’s Compass Box Hedonism marks the third edition since the expression became an annual release. Compass Box creative director Angela D’Orazio’s recipe uses grain whiskies from Port Dundas and Cameronbridge, 30-year-old Strathclyde, and some historic blended grain parcels in the Compass Box inventory, including an aged sherry cask-matured component. The good news for Hedonism devotees: the number of bottles in the 2026 edition has been increased by a third compared to the 2025 expression.
Known for engaging different female artists to reimagine the original Hedonism Muse, Compass Box commissioned artist Emma Hack to create a portrait of actor Karen Gillan for the 2026 label. See our exclusive for more deteails.
Macallan Diamonds Are Forever 55th Anniversary Release Scotch Single Malt
ABV: 45.5%
SRP: $750
Availability: Limited; exclusive to themacallan.com and the distillery starting March 2026
Macallan’s new single malt is a celebration of Bond…James Bond, specifically the Sean Connery-led film “Diamonds Are Forever,” which premiered in 1971. That movie revealed Bond’s wine connoisseurship, wherein he thwarts assassins by catching them in a claret-related lie. Macallan whisky maker Russell Greig used that scene as inspiration, aging the new 18 year old single malt (distilled in 2007, or, as the distillery cheekily notes, 2-007) in a combination of first-fill American oak that previously held red wine and sherry-seasoned European and American oak. This release is a first for Macallan, which has never before used red wine casks for maturation.
This is far from Macallan’s first brush with Bond. In 2022, the Speyside distillery launched the James Bond 60th Anniversary Release, a collection of six limited edition bottles, and in 2023, a four-week interactive, Bond-themed experience at Harrods department store in London.
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Ardbeg 10 year old Cask Strength Committee Exclusive 2026 Islay single malt scotch
ABV: 61.7%
SRP: $90
Availability: Ardbeg Committee limited release (The Ardbeg Committee is free to join), available from March 1st; imported by Moët Hennessy USA.
Ardbeg is releasing a cask strength version of its flagship 10 year old single malt as an exclusive bottling for Ardbeg Committee members. Ardbeg’s most ardent fans have been asking for a cask strength version of the classic 10 year old ever since a limited edition was released in the Japanese market in 2003 bottled at 57.8%. This is the first exclusive release under the tenure of the Ardbeg Committee co-chairs, master blender Gillian MacDonald and new Ardbeg distillery manager Bryony McNiven, following the departure of Jackie Thomson to Portintruan Distillery. This new peated Islay whisky is bottled at an even higher ABV of 61.7%, the highest strength of any Committee release to date.
Most new make spirit in Scotland is diluted to a standard filling strength of 63.5% before going into the cask. This is felt to be the ideal filling strength for maturation, and using a standard filling strength makes reciprocal cask trading between whisky companies much easier. Scotland’s climate helps the ABV to gently fall over time as the whisky matures in the warehouse. Ardbeg’s whisky makers, Dr. Bill Lumsden and Gillian MacDonald, achieved this expression’s high strength by combining Ardbeg matured in bourbon casks filled at standard filling strength with experimental casks filled with undiluted Ardbeg at a higher strength.
Woodford Reserve Distillery Series Cabernet Sauvignon Barrel Finish Bourbon
ABV: 45.2%
SRP: $65
Availability: Limited
For its latest Distillery Series release, Woodford took its flagship bourbon and finished it in French oak barrels that previously held cabernet sauvignon, imbuing the whiskey with not only a deeper mahogany color, but also notes of dried dark fruit, spiced plum, blackberry, and baking spice, according to the distillery. These releases tend to be quite limited, and this one is no different, with availability at the distillery in Versailles, Kentucky and select Kentucky retailers, as well as for shipping to Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Washington, D.C.
Released two to three times per year, Woodford’s Distillery Series regularly features some of its most creative blends, finishes, and mashbills. Last year, for instance, one of the Distillery Series releases was Woodford’s first-ever American single malt, which came on the heels of a blended malt released in 2024.
Green River Wheated Full Proof Bourbon
ABV: 54.65%
SRP: $50
Availability: In retailers across 25 states
Green River is adding a barrel strength wheated bourbon to its permanent lineup. The new whiskey is made from a mashbill of 70% corn, 21% wheat, and 9% malted barley and aged for 5 to 7 years in Green River’s clay tile warehouses, which are notable for their ability to trap heat, leading to conditions that master distiller Dan Callaway has referred to as “an extended summer.” Each batch will vary by proof, ranging from 109 to 116.
Lofted Spirits, owner of Bardstown Bourbon Co., acquired Green River in August 2022. While Green River was once primarily a contract distiller, Lofted has focused on building the distillery’s own brands, and moved contract distillation under its Lofted Custom Spirits arm, which launched last year.
Stoll & Wolfe Single Barrel Pure Rye
ABV: 53.5%
SRP: $70
Availability: Online and at the distillery
Lititz, Pennsylvania craft distiller Stoll & Wolfe’s new single barrel rye is inspired by the historic Monongahela style. It’s distilled from rye grain, with 80% of the mashbill comprising a historic heirloom varietal called Rosen rye, and the remaining 20% including malted rye. The whiskey was aged for around 34 months, and it was bottled at the cask strength of 53.5% ABV.
Shiner Texas Legend Cask Strength Straight Rye
ABV: 62.7%
Price: $200
Availability: Limited
K. Spoetzl Brewery & Distillery, the producer of Shiner beer since 1909, has unveiled a new whiskey under the Shiner label: a straight rye. Made from malted rye, yellow dent corn, and two-row barley, it was double distilled on a copper pot in 2023. It was matured in heavy-toast, char level 1 barrels in a single-story open-air rickhouse before being bottled at cask strength. Only three barrels were produced.
It’s the first aged whiskey product for the Central South Texas label. Those in or around Texas are in luck, as it’s only available at the K. Spoetzl Distillery’s historic location between Houston and San Antonio beginning Saturday, February 14th, 10:00 a.m. CST.
Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Batch 047: Single Pot Still Straight Malt
ABV: 47.5%
SRP: $60
Availability: At the distillery and online
Chattanooga’s latest in its ongoing Experimental Batches series is a bit of an oddball. Technically speaking it’s a straight malt whiskey, but it’s loosely modeled after a traditional Irish single pot still in its use of malted and unmalted barley—sporting a mashbill including floor-malted barley from the UK, an unmalted heirloom barley from Tennessee called Calypso, pale malted barley, and a hulless malted oat from North Carolina called Streaker oats. It was distilled twice in a 100-gallon pot still, rather than the customary triple distillation used by Irish distillers, and aged for at least 4 years in new toasted and charred barrels.
Collectible
Michter’s Celebration Sour Mash (2025 Edition)
ABV: 57.6%
SRP: $6,000
Availability: 315 bottles
The latest release of Celebration sour mash blends four barrels of Kentucky straight rye with three barrels of Kentucky straight bourbon, all aged from 12 to over 30 years. As with almost all other Celebration whiskeys, this one was created by master of maturation Andrea Wilson and master distiller Dan McKee; the whiskey is presented in a commemorative gift box and includes a letter signed by McKee.
In its nearly 30-year history, Michter’s has released just five editions of Celebration sour mash, a luxury blend that marries some of the distillery’s oldest bourbon and rye. Before this edition, the most recent release was in January 2023, and prior to that, there hadn’t been a Celebration since 2019.
