The International Spirits Challenge has announced its 2026 trophy winners, and Glenmorangie The Thirty Years Old has been named Supreme Champion Spirit. According to Drinks International, this is “the first time a Scotch whisky has claimed the title for six years.” Yamazaki had held the top award for the previous three years, winning with its 25, 12, and 18 year olds in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Six whiskies from Scotland, Kentucky, and Japan took home trophies this year, with Glenmorangie The Thirty also winning the trophy for distillers’ single malts aged 21 years and over.
So, let’s take a look at what the International Spirits Challenge deems to be the best whiskies in the world in 2026.
Quick whisky question
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How Does the ISC Award Its Trophies?
The International Spirits Challenge launched in 1995 and is organized by Agile Media, which also publishes Drinks International. Every entry is tasted blind by a panel of judges.
Medals are decided by agreement among the panel, and the strongest entries go on to receive trophies.
For the Supreme Champion Spirit, the category chairs re-taste the top spirits blind, and the title goes to the highest-scoring trophy winner.
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READ THE STORYGlenmorangie The Thirty Years Old
Award: Trophy (Single Malts 21 Years Old and Over, Distillers) and Supreme Champion Spirit
Category: Scotch Whisky
Tasting Notes: Raspberries, cherries, blackberries, ripe peach, candied orange, leather, cumin, clove
Find Your Next Bottle: £740 / $989
Glenmorangie added The Thirty to its permanent range in March 2026, and it is now the oldest whisky in the distillery’s core lineup. It was created by Dr. Bill Lumsden, the company’s director of whisky creation, and his team. Two-thirds of the whisky spent at least 15 years in Burgundy red wine casks, and the rest was matured in ex-bourbon casks. It is bottled at 43% ABV and launched with an RRP of £740.
When the whisky launched, Lumsden called it “our celebration of age and imagination, 30 years in the making.”
He added: “Showcasing a whisky long finished in Burgundy casks, The Thirty balances richer, fruity flavours with hints of our signature, elegant style. Unexpected aromas of raspberries and cherries lead into tastes of ripe peach and candied orange cut through by leather and spice.”
It first went on sale through Glenmorangie’s website, its visitor center in Tain, and its Heathrow boutique, with more markets following during the year.
Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon
Award: Trophy (Straight Bourbon up to 5 Years Old)
Category: American Whiskey
Tasting Notes: Citrus, vanilla, black pepper, caramel, oak, barley
Find Your Next Bottle: £36 / $19
When the ISC medal results came out in May, Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond was the only bourbon to receive a Double Gold, and it has now added a trophy.
Heaven Hill introduced this white label release in 2012. It uses the company’s traditional mash bill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley and is distilled at the Bernheim Distillery in Louisville.
To be bottled-in-bond, a bourbon has to come from one distillery and one production season, be aged for at least four years in a government-supervised bonded warehouse, and be bottled at 100 proof.
This is a tested and true value pick. It is easy to find, very affordable, reliable, and tasty. One of the best value bottled-in-bond bourbons on the market.
Ardnahoe Bholsa
Award: Trophy (Islay Single Malts No Age Statement, Distillers)
Category: Scotch Whisky
Tasting Notes: Red fruits, orange zest, peat smoke, raisins, dates, plums, Islay peat, pepper
Find Your Next Bottle: £58 / $65
Ardnahoe is a very new distillery, but do not let that fool you. The brand has made waves amongst enthusiasts and critics with its youthful yet characterful whisky. Bholsa is no exception.
The distillery filled its first cask on November 9, 2018, and its first whisky was released in 2024. Bholsa joined the core range in March 2025. Earlier this year, it won Gold at the Scotch Whisky Masters and Double Gold at the ISC, followed by the trophy.
The distillery uses malt from Port Ellen Maltings peated to 40 ppm, ferments in Oregon pine washbacks for 60 to 70 hours, and condenses its spirit in worm tubs, the only ones on Islay. Bholsa is matured mostly in oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 50% ABV, with no chill filtration or added color.
The name comes from the Bholsa caves on Islay’s north coast.
Loch Lomond 12 Year Old Inchmurrin
Award: Trophy (Single Malts up to 12 Years Old, Distillers)
Category: Scotch Whisky
Tasting Notes: Pear drops, coffee, freshly cut hay, orange, peach, apricot, fudge vanilla
Find Your Next Bottle: £38 / $48
Inchmurrin 12 is made using spirit from Loch Lomond’s straight neck stills. Master blender Michael Henry matures it in three types of American oak casks, and it is bottled at 46% ABV without chill filtration.
The distillery in Alexandria was set up in the mid-1960s by the former owners of Littlemill Distillery. At first it had only straight neck pot stills, which were based on designs developed at Littlemill, and traditional swan neck stills were added in 1998. By using both types of still, along with different cut points and both peated and unpeated barley, the distillery makes various malt styles. It also makes grain whisky.
Tintin readers might recognize the name, since Loch Lomond is the whisky Captain Haddock drinks in the comics, although the fictional brand has no connection to the real distillery.
Rosebank Remarkable Cask Release One
Award: Trophy (Single Malts 21 Years Old and Over, Distillers)
Category: Scotch Whisky
Tasting Notes: Stewed redcurrants, cacao nibs, chocolate lime, almonds, cut grass, orange sponge, banoffee, vanilla, raspberry, blackcurrant jam, oak, lavender, citrus, dark chocolate, spice, banana
Find Your Next Bottle: GTR Exclusive
Rosebank, known as the King of the Lowlands, was founded in 1840 by local wine merchant James Rankine on the banks of the Forth & Clyde Canal. It was mothballed in 1993, and over Christmas and New Year 2008, thieves stole its stills and other equipment.
Ian Macleod Distillers bought the site in 2017 with a view to revival, and had Forsyths build new stills to match the originals. New make started running again in June 2023.
Rosebank is triple distilled and condensed in worm tubs. Remarkable Cask Release One is a 31-year-old vatting of five hand-selected casks, bottled at 46.8% ABV and limited to 700 bottles for travel retail. It is the first release in a planned five-year collection.
Since its revival, Rosebank has swept the award circuit, with its 31 Year Old being named Best in Show Whisky at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Yamazaki Single Malt Whisky 25 Years Old
Award: Trophy (Japanese Single Malt 21 Years and Older)
Category: Japanese Whisky
Tasting Notes: Mizunara smoky incense, mature kaki persimmon, ume plum, sandalwood, ginger spice, cocoa powder, sweet wood
Find Your Next Bottle: £5,250 / $6,000
This is the fourth year in a row that a Yamazaki has won the ISC’s Japanese Whisky trophy. Before this year it was the 25 Year Old in 2023, the 12 Year Old in 2024, and the 18 Year Old in 2025. Suntory Spirits was also named Japanese Whisky Producer of the Year for the seventh year running.
Yamazaki 25 was first released in 1999, and Suntory reworked it in 2021. The ISC judges said: “There’s a reason Yamazaki is so widely accepted as a global benchmark in quality whisky.”
Shinjiro Torii founded Yamazaki in 1923 as Japan’s first malt whisky distillery. We covered this year’s win in more detail in our news story.
However, this year, Yamazaki was dethroned as Supreme Champion Spirit by Glenmorangie The Thirty.
Have You Tried Any of These?
Scotch took four of this year’s six whisky trophies, with American and Japanese whisky winning one each. Glenmorangie The Thirty also ended Yamazaki’s three-year run as Supreme Champion.
Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond costs around $20, which makes it the easiest of the six to pick up. The Glenmorangie (£740), the Rosebank (£2,500), and the Yamazaki 25 are out of reach for most of us. However, Glenmorangie and Yamazaki both have more affordable starting points, such as The Original 12 Years Old and the Yamazaki 12, that are worth exploring.
Have you tried any of these? Are there any you would like to get your hands on, and what do you make of the awards? Let us know in the comments.
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