Six Scotch whiskies reached Spirit Gold Outstanding at the IWSC this year, the band reserved for scores of 98 and above, and the lineup this year is an interesting one, as we will go on to see.
A score of 98 is not easy to come by here. The IWSC, which has been running since 1969, judges everything blind, pouring each spirit into a numbered glass so the panel works from the liquid alone, with no label or price to nudge them. Judges come from more than 30 countries, and the competition holds each day to 65 samples, so nobody is tasting on a tired palate. Below 98 sit the other tiers: Gold for 95 to 97, Silver for 90 to 94, and Bronze for 85 to 89.
What follows is a closer look at all six Spirit Gold Outstanding Scotch whiskies from the IWSC 2026, how they are made, where they come from, and whether you can actually get hold of one.
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The GlenAllachie 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold Outstanding 2026
Score: 98
Tasting Notes: “Rich caramel and toffee mingle with sour dark cherries and almonds, leading to a lighter, fruitier palate where apple pie and creamy toffee unfold. The experience closes with a long, lifted finish marked by marzipan, cinnamon, and butterscotch.” – IWSC Judges
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READ THE STORYFind Your Next Bottle: £110 / $180
For 50 years GlenAllachie made spirit mostly for blends, its name barely known outside the trade. Things changed in 2017, when a group led by industry icon Billy Walker bought the Speyside distillery from Chivas Brothers. The GlenAllachie officially launched as a single malt brand in 2018.
By that point, Walker had already revived BenRiach and The Glendronach, and he set about GlenAllachie the same way, drawing on the sherry casks he has long favored.
The 18 Year Old is matured in a combination of American oak and Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks, bottled at 46% ABV. Walker selects the casks himself from the distillery’s sizable inventory, and those sherry casks are where the dried fruit, dark chocolate, and marzipan in the glass come from. Of the six winners, this is among the easiest to track down, and at this price it is pretty good value for money, too.
East Asia Whisky Company & Silver Seal 35 Year Old Manta Ray Seven Clean Seas Bunnahabhain Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold Outstanding 2026
Score: 98
Tasting Notes: “Bright fragrant notes of lemon biscuits and chamomile lead into a sweet, creamy palate rich with delicate floral notes and hints of Danish pastry. The vibrant tropical fruit carries through to a long, elegant finish, showing superb balance and depth.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: £1,163.73 / $1,561
This is the oldest and rarest whisky on the list. IWSC lists it as the 35 Year Old Manta Ray Seven Clean Seas, entered jointly by the East Asia Whisky Company and Italian independent bottler Silver Seal, and bottled at a cask strength of 49.3% ABV. Neither company has published full details, but auction records point to a 1989 distillation at Bunnahabhain on Islay, bottled in 2025, with just 110 bottles filled.
The Manta Ray name links it to an earlier release from the same partnership, the Manta Ray Genesis, a 1988 Bunnahabhain from a single sherry cask that won IWSC’s top aged single malt award in 2024. East Asia Whisky Company, based in Singapore, ties several of its releases to marine conservation, and the Manta Ray series takes its name from that connection.
Bunnahabhain sits on the northeast coast of Islay and, unlike most of the island, is known mainly for an unpeated style. In 1989, the distillery was making whisky largely for blends such as The Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark, so a cask left to sit for 35 years is a rare survivor. With so few bottles in existence, this is one for collectors and the very curious.
Bowmore 9 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold Outstanding 2026
Score: 98
Tasting Notes: “Aromas of delicate sea salt, crème caramel, and light peat smoke. On the palate, roasted peaches and soft bonfire smoke take centre stage, beautifully balanced by notes of oats, roasted pumpkin seeds, fresh rhubarb, and a pinch of sea salt.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: £32.50 / $44
The Bowmore 9 Year Old is the distillery’s entry point, sits at 40% ABV, and can be found on shelves for not much more than £30, yet it landed the same 98 as a 35-year-old single cask. This would be, and perhaps is for some, a surprise. But, Bowmore did snag ‘World’s Best Single Malt’ at the World Whiskies Awards 2026 for its 21 Year Old Sherry Oak, so perhaps not as surprising as you might initially think.
Bowmore matures it for at least nine years in a blend of hand-selected American oak ex-bourbon casks and European oak Oloroso sherry butts, and the result carries a burnished walnut amber color with a balance of sweet wood, ripe fruit, and subtle smoke.
Bowmore is the oldest operational distillery on Islay, and its whisky matures in the No.1 Vaults sitting low enough that the sea is on the other side of the wall.
For anyone curious about peated Scotch but wary of the heavier Islay drams, this is a welcoming place to start.
Glengoyne 17 YO Scottish Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold Outstanding 2026
Score: 98
Tasting Notes: “Enticing aromas of creme caramel and sweet plums evolve into a rich, juicy palate layered with creamy milk chocolate and orange marmalade. This super-structured dram perfectly balances sweetness and alcohol with a dry, long, and glorious finish.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: N/A
This is the enigma of the six. The competition lists a Glengoyne 17 Year Old Scottish Oak at 51.6% ABV, and beyond that the trail goes quiet. There is no retail listing, no distillery page, and no press release confirming its cask makeup, bottle count, or price, which is unusual for a whisky that just scored 98.
The 51.6% figure is itself a clue, since an older 17 Scottish Oak existed at 43%, so this is a different, stronger bottling. Perhaps this is an upcoming release in Glengoyne Oak Master’s Series, which currently includes White Oak and Mizunara expressions.
The distillery is owned by Ian Macleod Distillers, who bought it in 2003 and built its name on unpeated, sherry-influenced Highland whisky.
For now, this is one to watch for rather than one you can buy. We will update you accordingly.
Mythical Beasts Aberlour 13 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold Outstanding 2026
Score: 98
Tasting Notes: “A beautifully complex aroma unfolds with tobacco leaves, cocoa nibs, and subtle hints of coffee beans, all wrapped in honey. The palate is decadently rich, bursting with cinder toffee, and stroopwafel sweetness, balanced by soft spices and creamy vanilla.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: £125 / $168
Spiritfilled, based in Fife, was founded in 2021 by Ross Archer and Russell Spratley, and it sources single casks to bottle under its Mythical Beasts label, where each release is tied to a legendary creature.
Nyami Nyami is the river god connected to the label’s Speyside whiskies, and this Aberlour is one of five single casks chosen to mark the label’s fifth anniversary.
The whisky is Aberlour distillate aged 13 years and then finished in a Pedro Ximénez sherry hogshead, cask 4343, before being bottled at its cask strength of 58% ABV with natural color and no chill filtration.
Aberlour itself is a Speyside distillery with a long association with sherry-cask maturation, which suits the rich, sweet profile this finish brings out. Just 301 bottles were filled, so it is far harder to find than the supermarket names on this list.
Deanston Orange Wine Cask 17 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Award: Spirit Gold Outstanding 2026
Score: 98
Tasting Notes: “A rich aroma of coffee and fruitcake leads seamlessly into a round, well-balanced palate brimming with candied green fruits, raisins, and fig notes. The captivating experience closes with a dry, woody finish, subtly spiced with cumin.” – IWSC Judges
Find Your Next Bottle: £95 / $128
Great to see an experimental finish on the list! Deanston matured its spirit for 15 years in ex-bourbon casks, building the honeyed, slightly waxy character the distillery is known for, then finished it for two years in Vino de Naranja casks from Andalucía. That wine is a fortified style made with sun-dried bitter orange peel and aged in a solera system, and the casks are rarer than the skin-contact orange wine that has become fashionable.
The release was put together by master blender Julieann Fernandez, who is among the youngest in the industry, in her mid-30s, and has family roots in the Jaén region of Andalucía, so the choice of cask carried a personal connection.
It is bottled at 53.6% ABV without chill filtration or added color, with 7,000 bottles released worldwide in March 2026 at £95, which makes it the kind of limited release you can still reasonably hope to find.
The 2026 IWSC Scotch Verdict
The six winners cover a lot of ground. The GlenAllachie 18 and the Bowmore 9 are easy to find on a shop shelf, the Deanston and the Spiritfilled Aberlour take a bit of hunting, and the Manta Ray Genesis Bunnahabhain, at 60 bottles, is closer to a collector’s prize than a weekend purchase. The Glengoyne 17 Scottish Oak is the odd one out, scoring 98 while keeping most of its details out of public view.
If you have tried any of the six, tell us which earned its 98 and which you would have marked differently. And if you have only read about them here, which would you reach for first? Let us know in the comments.
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