Maker’s Mark Goes Further for Flavor With its First-Ever Whisky Finished with Japanese Mizunara Oak Staves

Building on the brand’s pioneering wood finishing legacy, Maker’s Mark’s World Wood Collection launches ahead of Holiday 2026 exclusively in airports around the globe  

LORETTO, Ky., Maker’s Mark, the iconic handmade Kentucky bourbon, today announced the World Wood Collection, a new Global Travel Retail-exclusive series celebrating the influence of exceptional oak from around the world. The inaugural release, Expedition 01, marks the first Maker’s Mark whisky to feature three oak finishes across three continents: Japanese Mizunara, French and American white oak staves.

The World Wood Collection represents the evolution of Maker’s Mark’s wood finishing philosophy, first introduced with Maker’s Mark 46, which demonstrated how oak staves could unlock new dimensions of flavor in bourbon while remaining true to the brand’s handmade heritage.  Maker’s Mark has long treated oak as a key ingredient—not simply a container for its whisky, and has invested in advancing both the art of wood finishing and the stewardship of American white oak at Star Hill Farm.

“At Maker’s Mark, we celebrate bourbon as an agricultural product and the universe of flavor that can be unlocked through nature—water, wheat, oak and time,” said Rob Samuels, managing director and eighth-generation whisky maker. “That belief has long guided our commitment to sustainable forestry and to protecting the future of American white oak. Through intentional wood finishing, The World Wood Collection explores exceptional oak from around the world to create a whisky that expands the boundaries of flavor while staying true to our craft.”

Expedition 01 brings together Japanese Mizunara, French and American white oak, with each whisky individually finished before being expertly blended into a single expression. The result is a complex, balanced whisky in which every oak contributes its own distinctive character.

• Japanese Mizunara oak contributes delicate floral notes and subtle umami complexity.

• American white oak delivers sweet vanilla notes, brightness and a rounded character.

• French oak introduces warm baking spice, caramel richness and an elegant, lingering finish.

“Expedition 01 represents the kind of premium, story-driven whisky experience that resonates with today’s global travelers,” said Vanessa Widmann, managing director for Global Travel Retail at Suntory Global Spirits. “With its exclusive availability in Global Travel Retail, distinctive oak-forward story and premium presentation, it offers travelers a rare opportunity to discover a truly unique expression from Maker’s Mark — one that celebrates craftsmanship, exploration and the influence of exceptional oak.”

Available exclusively through Global Travel Retail ahead of Holiday 2026, Expedition 01 is bottled at 1L and 47.5% ABV and presented in premium packaging inspired by the distinctive grain of each oak species, reinforcing the collection’s focus on craftsmanship and discovery.

The limited-edition expression will be available beginning today in New York (JFK), London (LHR), Istanbul (SAW), Perth (PER), and Bengaluru (BLR) through Avolta retail outlets for the suggested retail price of $84.99.

For more information, visit www.makersmark.com.

ABOUT MAKER’S MARK

Maker’s Mark® is the iconic handmade Kentucky bourbon driven by a vision for better flavor and a better world. In 1953, founders Margie and Bill Samuels, Sr. broke from tradition—burning the family’s 170-year-old recipe to create a bold, balanced bourbon made with soft red winter wheat for signature sweetness and creaminess. From the start, the Samuels went to remarkable lengths to craft uncompromisingly delicious bourbon—a perfectly unreasonable spirit that endures today. Every bottle is still hand-dipped in red wax, every barrel rotated by hand and every decision guided by the brand’s higher purpose.

Staying true to its founders’ vision, Maker’s Mark has expanded its portfolio with award-winning, super-premium expressions, including Maker’s Mark 46, Cask Strength, and Cellar Aged, as well as Private Selection, the brand’s custom barrel program. In 2025, the distillery debuted Star Hill Farm Whisky. Named World’s Best Wheat Whisky and the first to earn Estate Whiskey certification, Star Hill Farm Whisky inspired the Maker’s Mark Regenerative Alliance, a bold commitment to advance regenerative farming beyond its business.

Maker’s Mark is proud to be both B Corp and Regenified Certified – milestones driven by the sustainability leadership at Star Hill Farm, home of the Maker’s Mark Distillery, which strives to be the most endearing, culturally rich and environmentally responsible homeplace in the world.

A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky 200916 Year Old 2026 Edition

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

The Whisky Exchange

70cl / 55%

£79.95

The 2026 edition of our highly anticipated exclusive Christmas whisky is here! Selected with great care, this 16-year-old Highland single malt was distilled at Linkwood and aged in American oak oloroso sherry hogsheads, for a dram that’s deeply evocative of all those rich festive flavours we love. You can look forward to ample notes of dried fruit, jam, gingerbread, fruitcake, baked apples and Christmas pudding – just the thing to sip and savour with friends and family.

Billy Abbott, The Whisky Exchange

Nose

Raisin Danish pastries, sultanas, rich fruit cake and spiced sponge, with building jammy notes: cherry, blackcurrant and apricot. Gingerbread spiciness develops along with clove, brown sugar and cinnamon. Mixed peel fruitiness hides at the back on top of a pool of rich and sticky black treacle.

Palate

Bright and fruity, with layers of underlying spice. We start with baked apples with cinnamon and cloves, stewed raisins and sultanas, and sticky dates. Hints of savoury damp oak are balanced by dark sugar sweetness and fruit-forward dark chocolate. Chewy spiced oatmeal and raisin cookie batter hide at the core, surrounded by Christmas pudding and more berry jam.

Finish

Rich fruit cake lingers, fading to leave baked apples, blackcurrant jam and dark oaky spice.

The Homecoming Collection fuses whisky and creativity, celebrating the liquid art of whisky-making with the illustrations of Leith-based artist, Shona Hardie. This ultimate whisky flight will take you on a journey to reconnect with the heritage of Leith and our spiritual home, The Vaults. The full four-bottle Homecoming Collection is now available online.

TAKE A LOOK

CASK NO. 28.119

Spice it up after dark

We combined selected casks of eight-year-old single malt from this distillery and put the spirit into various other casks to marry and mature – this is one of those. The nose indicated caramel and dark chocolate, cheroots, leather, nutmeg and a spicy, citrus, earthy aftershave. The palate’s deep sweetness of marmalade, manuka, currants, raisins and chocolate mousse preceded a finish of dry oak, black coffee, goatskin wine, cinnamon and ginger. The reduced nose offered black tea, roasted beetroot, sawdust, rancio and humidors. Continued sweetness on the palate, now in the form of sugared almonds, honey and pastel de nata, balanced the liquorice, anise and clove that tingled in the finish.

Please note that these bottles are 35cl in size, making them perfect for exploring and enjoying a wider variety of whiskies. They are smaller than our standard 70cl bottles. £39.00

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

SAMPLE IMAGE!

Pursuit United 10 Year 4 Months “Double Oaked” K&L Exclusive Toasted American Oak Finished Single Barrel Cask Strength Rye Whiskey

(700ml)
$69.99

View

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

A Weller Vertical

THE VIDEO

Time to put the wheaters against each-other!

I’ve always loved Weller, and I was so sad when it turned into this secondary market trading bottle. Luckily, it’s now back on shop shelves with nearly the entire rainbow available for purchase.

In this video we’ll go through the Weller Special Reserve, Weller 12 Year Old, Weller 107 Antique and the Weller Full Proof.

Some surprising reactions and pricing listed throughout the video of exactly what I paid for these bottles. What’s your favourite Weller release? Is there a retailer who always nails the best store picks? Or is it best to just go for the normal releases?

Whisky Reviews every Wednesday
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MEIKLE TÒIR UNVEILS THE TURBO 2026 EDITION

The limited-edition Speyside single malt will first be offered in small quantities through an online ballot, opening on 2nd November, before launching globally on 5th November 2026 at specialist retailers

Meikle Tòir is turning up the smoke this Bonfire Night with the release of The Turbo 2026 Edition, a highly sought-after, limited-edition 5-year-old peated single malt whisky from The GlenAllachie Distillery, launching on Thursday 5th November.

Made from start to finish at The GlenAllachie Distillery in the heart of Speyside, this peated single malt brand is led by whisky veteran Billy Walker. Drawing on over five decades of whisky-making expertise, Walker reimagined The GlenAllachie’s signature Speyside character with a distinctive peated edge, creating a whisky that has since cultivated a loyal following.

The Turbo 2026 Edition is the fourth instalment in this sought-after limited annual release. Since its first introduction in 2023, The Turbo has become a highly anticipated annual event for whisky fans, selling out almost immediately each time. It is the most heavily peated expression in the Meikle Tòir collection, with the 2026 edition dialled up to 71 parts per million (PPM) in the finished whisky, significantly higher than the more balanced peating of the core range and delivering a noticeably bolder, smokier and more powerful profile.

Its intense smoke comes from capturing the “heart of the heart” of the distillate, the cut with the highest phenol content. Peated production takes place for only six weeks of the year at The GlenAllachie Distillery, and the distillate for The Turbo is made in even smaller quantities, making each release all the more rare.

For 2026, The Turbo has further evolved from the 2025 edition, which combined five American virgin oak casks and four Oloroso hogsheads. This year’s edition marries American virgin oak with Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks.

After five years in cask, the whisky greets the nose with warmed honey, candied hazelnuts and molasses, with crystallised ginger, mocha and mānuka honey beneath. On the palate comes butterscotch, orange zest, honeycomb and plum syrup, finishing on dried red berries, cinnamon and salted caramel. A richly layered whisky with a powerful, full-bodied smoke, it is perfect for toasting Bonfire Night.

Commenting on the new release, Billy Walker, Master Distiller, said:

“The Turbo is, by nature, incredibly limited, so if you can get your hands on a bottle, it’s worth it. This year, I’m delighted to showcase The Turbo matured in some of my favourite casks: American virgin oak, Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry. Together they create a deeply intense profile which, alongside the strong smoke we know and love from previous expressions, makes this 2026 Edition a real standout. It’s a very moreish dram, packed full of sweet campfire smoke, spices and candied dark fruits.”

Billy Walker has fine-tuned every step of Meikle Tòir’s production. Highland mainland peat from St Fergus, Aberdeenshire, gives the barley an earthy, floral smoke, and a fermentation extended to 160 hours, almost three times the industry standard, creates a fruity, ester-rich distillate that is ideally primed for cask maturation.

The same care extends to the casks. With no expense spared, Walker and his team work with trusted partners around the world to source the finest premium first-fill casks, all in pursuit of peated perfection for whisky lovers.

Following high demand for previous releases, Meikle Tòir has introduced an online ballot for an extremely small quantity of The Turbo 2026 Edition. Whisky enthusiasts can enter through the website, meikletoir.com, between 10am GMT on 2nd November and 7pm GMT on 4th November for the chance to purchase a bottle from this limited allocation ahead of the official launch. The ballot is intended to give loyal fans a fair opportunity during the release, rather than offering bottles solely on a first-come, first-served basis. A separate, limited number of bottles will become increasingly available through select retailers worldwide from 5th November.

Bottled at 50% ABV, with natural colour and non-chill filtration, Meikle Tòir The Turbo 2026 Edition (RRP £62.99) will also be available at The GlenAllachie Distillery at 10am on 5th November 2026.

For ballot entry, stockists and more information, visit www.meikletoir.com.

2026 RELEASE

THE MACALLAN RARE CASK

The Macallan Rare Cask is distinguished by a precious and elusive character. Only a small fraction of the thousands of casks reviewed each year at The Macallan Estate display the rich raisin sweetness sought for The Macallan Rare Cask releases. These exceptional casks are carefully identified and selected by our Whisky Mastery Team as exemplars of this distinctive character.

The unique, naturally present yet rarely found sweet raisin flavour imparted by European oak is incredibly elusive, delivering a rich, satisfying, velvet finish. This distinct, intense raisin character can only be revealed through the repeated assessment of every cask over the course of its lifetime.

The Macallan Rare Cask 2026 release is a multi-faceted single malt whisky offering an indulgent, sensorial experience defined by depth, richness and complexity. Each facet reflects the craftsmanship, mastery and heritage behind each cask.

From the rarest casks, where time and sherry seasoned European oak quietly shape character, emerges a single malt Scotch whisky of deep, natural beauty.

Only a small fraction of the thousands of casks reviewed each year at The Macallan Estate display the rich raisin sweetness sought for this single malt. This multi-faceted single malt offers an indulgent, sensorial experience defined by depth, richness and complexity.

The Macallan Rare Cask 2026 Release is now available from The Macallan Online Boutique and The Macallan Estate Boutique.

COLOUR

Ruby Mahogany.

AROMA

Soft notes of vanilla with rich raisin, followed by a sweet fusion of fresh apple, lemon and orange.

PALATE

An intense sweet raisin dominates before giving way to vanilla and dark chocolate, with layers of light citrus zest.

FINISH

Long, rich and velvety.

PURCHASE RARE CASK 2026 RELEASE

Glen Elgin 2012 – The Ghost Train of Dunphail

DISTILLED 4th July 2012 AND BOTTLED 13th July 2026

A firm favourite amongst the team at Lady of the Glen, Glen Elgin never fails to deliver. This idiosyncratic single malt known for its fruity and complex character lends itself well to secondary cask maturation. In this case we have a 6 year finish in a fine ex-tawny port barrique from Josafer near the city of Porto.

The tasting revealed Turkish delight, walnuts, baked apple and a subtle meaty note of Parma ham. A long finish offers lively spices, blueberries and honeyed oak.

LEARN MORE

2026 Little Book “Chapter 10 – All The Wiser” Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey

$149.99

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

ralfy review 1152 – Glentauchers 12yo @57.1%vol: (Signatory)