Blended Scotch tends to get treated as the single malt’s poor relation, the bottles you find on supermarket shelves or reach for when mixing a drink, even though there are plenty of excellent, affordable ones out there. The results at the International Wine & Spirits Competition 2026 push back on the ‘blends are bad’ reputation, albeit from a more expensive angle than many consumers might hope for.
While there is real value to be found among this year’s winners, the set skews toward the luxury end of the category, with several whiskies carrying serious age statements of 21, 23, 25, and even 40 years, along with the prices to match. It is a reminder that prestige and rarity come in blended form too.
The IWSC has been running since 1969 and judges everything blind. No blended Scotch reached Gold Outstanding this year, the band reserved for scores of 98 and above, so the top of the category went to eight whiskies that earned Spirit Gold, with scores between 95 and 97.
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READ THE STORYHere is a closer look at all eight, how they are made, where they come from, and whether you can actually get hold of one.
Chivas Regal 25 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold 2026
Score: 97
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Tasting Notes: “Bright tropical fruits and sultanas mingle with crisp apple and pear drops, unfolding into creamy porridge and polished oak. This clarity carries through to a soft, balanced palate where toffee and gentle spice build, finishing with lingering vanilla.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: $330 / £290
The top scorer of the group is a name that most Scotch whisky drinkers will recognise, and the 25 Year Old has long been considered “the world’s first luxury whisky”.
Chivas Regal first appeared in 1909, when the company put out a 25-year-old aimed at wealthy drinkers in the United States, and the current 25 Year Old, reintroduced in 2007 by master blender Colin Scott, is built as a tribute to that early release. Every whisky in it has spent at least 25 years in the cask.
Chivas Regal 25 Year Old is part of the brand’s ultra-premium collection, with each bottle individually numbered to reflect its rarity. However, it is pretty consistently available.
At the heart of the whisky is single malt from Strathisla, the oldest continuously working distillery in the Highlands and the home of Chivas, alongside grain whisky from Strathclyde in the Lowlands. Every cask used in its creation is hand-selected.
Royal Salute 21 Year Old Signature Blended Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold 2026
Score: 96
Tasting Notes: “A layered nose of bright tropical fruits and polished oak with savoury depth. The palate unfolds with a wisp of smoke over oatcakes, digestive biscuits, and subtle spice. Refreshing citrus and playful sherbet tones leave a vibrant, lasting impression.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: $175 / £110
Another entry from Chivas Brothers, but this time under the Royal Salute brand.
Royal Salute was created by Chivas Brothers in 1953 as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her coronation, and it takes its name from the 21-gun salute fired to mark royal occasions. In further tribute, each whisky in the blend is at least 21 years old. As far as the brand is concerned, the recipe has stayed the same since 1953.
Like Chivas Regal, the blend is built around malt from Strathisla in Speyside. It comes in the brand’s familiar sapphire-blue flagon, modeled on the gemstones in the crown jewels.
This is the permanent flagship of the Royal Salute range and it is the only major Scotch whose core range starts at 21 years. It is widely available through specialist retailers and, as a collectible bonus, there is a wide range of limited edition decanters on offer including the Polo Editions and the Harris Reed Editions.
Wildmoor Black Mountain 40 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold 2026
Score: 96
Tasting Notes: “Sherry-like aromas of polished wood, dried fruit, and a whisper of allspice transition seamlessly into a rich palate where vibrant mandarin mingles with liquid caramel. This evolves into a lingering finish of cinder toffee, dark chocolate, and fruitcake.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: $969 / £775
The name might suggest a small independent producer, but Wildmoor is actually a brand from William Grant & Sons, the family-owned company behind Glenfiddich and The Balvenie. It launched the range in April 2024, drawing on a reserve of old malt and grain whiskies the family has built up over roughly six decades.
Black Mountain is the oldest expression in the range, with a minimum age of 40 years. It combines rare grain and Highland malts with stock from closed distilleries, and finishes the whisky in a Pedro Ximénez sherry cask.
Master blender Brian Kinsman, who also looks after Glenfiddich, put it together, and it is bottled at 46%.
Dewar’s 19 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold 2026
Score: 95
Tasting Notes: “Bright aromas of fresh orchard fruit and delicate crème caramel lead to a creamy palate of roasted spice, caramelized almonds, and honeyed red apple. The round, smooth texture carries through to a long, satisfying finish that lingers with glorious warmth.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: $50 / £N/A
Dewar’s traces back to 1846, when John Dewar opened a wine and spirits shop in Perth, and the brand is now owned by Bacardi. Its house style comes from a process the company calls double aging, where the blend is returned to oak casks for a second spell of maturation after the whiskies have been married together, which is meant to smooth out the final spirit.
Master blender Stephanie Macleod, who has won the International Whisky Competition’s Master Blender of the Year title six times, oversees the blends.
The 19 Year Old appears each year as The Champions Edition, tied to Dewar’s role as the official Scotch of the U.S. Open, with a different cask finish for each championship. The 2026 release, built from up to 40 malt and grain whiskies and finished in Cabernet Franc casks from Wölffer Estate on Long Island, is the sixth in the series.
At an MSRP of $79.99, it is the most affordable age-stated whisky here, sold in limited quantities at fine wine and spirits retailers.
White Heather 21 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold 2026
Score: 95
Tasting Notes: “An orchard fruit aroma with subtle oak spice leads into a soft, gently spiced palate rich with gingerbread, shortbread, and spiced sponge cake notes. Lingering apples and pears blend seamlessly with a delicate, smoky finish, leaving a punchy, complex warmth.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: $180 / £110
White Heather is a revival of a blend that was discontinued in the 1980s. The brand name passed to The GlenAllachie Distillers Company when industry legend Billy Walker bought the Speyside distillery from Chivas Brothers in 2017. He subsequently brought White Heather back as the company’s first blended Scotch.
The blend is made from 47% malt and 53% grain, with the malt coming from the Highlands, Islay, and Speyside. It went through a dual maturation. The first aging period was split between American oak and sherry casks, and once the whisky had been blended, it was filled into selected Pedro Ximénez, Oloroso, and Appalachian virgin oak casks for a further spell of maturation.
It is bottled at 48%, with natural color and no chill filtration. Walker is also behind The GlenAllachie 18 Year Old that took a higher score at this year’s competition.
Ballantine’s 23 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold 2026
Score: 95
Tasting Notes: “An orchard fruit aroma with subtle oak spice leads into a soft, gently spiced palate rich with gingerbread, shortbread, and spiced sponge cake notes. Lingering apples and pears blend seamlessly with a delicate, smoky finish, leaving a punchy, complex warmth.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: $293 / £234
Ballantine’s goes back to 1827, when George Ballantine started selling whisky from his grocery shop in Edinburgh, and it is now one of the best-selling Scotch brands in the world. Like Chivas Regal and Royal Salute, it sits within the Chivas Brothers portfolio, and the house style draws on Glenburgie and Miltonduff as its core single malts.
The 23 Year Old was put together by Sandy Hyslop, who announced his retirement as master blender in late 2025, and built around Glenburgie single malt, matured in first-fill American oak, which gives it the vanilla and creamy character the bottling is known for.
It was originally a travel retail release, which is part of why it can be harder to track down than the rest of the aged Ballantine’s range. It is bottled at 40%.
Hyslop retains the title of master blender emeritus, whilst the role itself has been taken over by another industry veteran, Kevin Balmforth.
Noble Rebel Orchard Outburst Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold 2026
Score: 95
Tasting Notes: “Vibrant aromas of toasted spice and caramelized almonds lead to a gorgeous palate of delicate tropical fruits, smooth malt, peach juice, and a gentle touch of peat. The gorgeously long finish reveals lingering vanilla and sunny hints of meadow grass.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: $49 / £39
This is the only blended malt on the list, meaning it is made entirely from malt whisky with no grain in the mix, and at £40 per 70cl bottle it is also the most affordable. Noble Rebel is the experimental range from the Loch Lomond Group, which owns the Loch Lomond and Glen Scotia distilleries, and the whiskies are put together by master blender Michael Henry.
Orchard Outburst leans into fresh, fruity flavors of apple and pear. Part of the malt that goes into it was made using Chardonnay wine yeast, which Loch Lomond says draws out more of the citrus and orchard fruit character. It is matured entirely in ex-bourbon casks, carries no age statement, and is bottled at 46% with natural color and no chill filtration.
You can buy it from the brand’s own site and from specialist retailers such as The Whisky Exchange.
Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute The Original Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold 2026
Score: 95
Tasting Notes: “Vibrant aromas of mulled orange and sweet tropical fruits lead to a rich, creamy palate layered with ripe peaches, smoky spice, and mellow vanilla. A refreshing mineral edge enhances the long, sweet, caramelised finish.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: $3,375 / £2,700
This whisky sits at the top of the Royal Salute range, and it takes its name from the 62-gun salute fired from the Tower of London to mark the most significant royal occasions. It is blended from more than 50 of Scotland’s malt and grain whiskies, and it includes stock from distilleries that have since closed, which makes it impossible to replicate once the casks run dry.
The Original Reserve is the founding expression in the 62 Gun Salute Collection and was released to mark the Queen’s birthday in 2010. The collection was expanded in July 2024 with two further whiskies, The American Oak Reserve and The Peated Reserve.
It comes in a hand-crafted Dartington Crystal decanter finished with 24-carat gold, and it carries a US price of around $3,000 or above, which makes it the most expensive bottle here.
The Luxury Side of Blended Scotch
These eight cover a lot of ground, from a £40 blended malt fermented with wine yeast to a $3,000 crystal decanter of whisky from distilleries that no longer exist. The set lands on the pricier side of the category, but the Noble Rebel and the Dewar’s 19 show there is reward to be found without spending a fortune, while the Wildmoor and the 62 Gun Salute sit firmly in trophy territory. Chivas Brothers had a strong showing, though the independents and revivalists held their own.
If you have tried any of these, tell us which one earned its medal in your eyes. And if you are working from this list alone, which would you reach for first? Let us know in the comments.
