10 Whiskies To Put On Your Whisky Radar

The Whisky Radar would be a great gadget, wouldn’t it? Maybe it’s an app. Cool new whisky appears on the scene, you get a ping, and you’re adding it to your basket before you can say “non-chill-filtered”.

Seeing as The Whisky Radar doesn’t exist (trademarking it ), you’ll have to settle for yours truly helping out. It’s Whisky Show season, which means big releases are coming thick and fast. The Whisky Radar would be pinging all over the place if it was real.

Anyway, here’s 10 recent whisky arrivals we think you’ll love.

10 Whiskies To Put On Your Whisky Radar

1. The Borders, First Release 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Orange, caramel, hazelnut, sponge cake, and raspberry.
• Distillery Location: Lowlands, Scotland.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: The Borders Distillery presents its inaugural single malt Scotch whisky and the first whisky distilled in the Scottish Borders since 1837. The eight-year-old single malt was aged in first-fill bourbon casks, then finished in malmsey Madeira casks. There are only 10,000 bottles available worldwide, each filled at 46% ABV.

2. Balvenie The Twelve Year Old – The 1931 Collection 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Warm biscuits, honeyed notes of creamy toffee, delicate ginger, and aromatic oak.
• Distillery Location: Speyside, Scotland.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: This whisky was created to celebrate the distillery’s oldest ever release, which was distilled in 1931 and matured for an astonishing 88 years. The latter was produced from 100% home-malted barley and aged in sherry butt from the Garvey Bodega in Jerez. So for The Twelve Year Old – The 1931 Collection, The Balvenie also used 100% floor-malted barley from its Home Maltings (constructed in 1929), ageing the whisky first in American oak before finishing it in sherry casks from a neighbouring bodega in Jerez. It’s rare to see a distillery of this size create a whisky made entirely from floor-malted barley.

3. Highland Park 17 Year Old Between You and I by Laila Gohar 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Orange blossom, lemon peel and vanilla cream, with polished leather, toasted oak and warming spice.
• Distillery Location: Islands/Highlands, Scotland.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: Master whisky maker Marc Watson sampled more than 80 casks to create this limited edition 17-year-old single malt, settling on a maturation journey of 11 years in refill casks followed by six years in new American oak. The second edition of Highland Park Between You and I is inspired by food artist Laila Gohar’s Egyptian roots, with the active oak bringing vibrant citrus, spice and creamy vanilla to the whisky, alongside notes of orange blossom and leather. The presentation draws on the places these flavours evoked for Gohar, from a Cairo museum and sun-soaked Andalusian patios to the slopes of a tropical volcano. It’s bottled at 47.5% ABV and presented at its natural colour.

4. Jura 15 Year Old Sherry Cask 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Preserved lemon and fragrant orange zest, with almond beneath the bright citrus aromas.
• Distillery Location: Islands/Highlands, Scotland.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: Each edition of Jura’s Sherry Cask range begins with its own bourbon-cask recipe, with less first-fill wood used as the whiskies get older. This 15-year-old single malt was then moved into 500-litre Manzanilla sherry butts to take on the sherry’s salty, nutty, fruity tang. It’s bottled at 46% ABV, naturally coloured and non-chill filtered. If you think Jura isn’t your thing, this will change your mind.

5. Kyrö Sauna Stories No.3 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Sweet orchard fruit, warming rye spice, gentle peat smoke and a touch of honeyed wine richness.
• Distillery Location: Isokyrö, Finland.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: Whisky aged in a sauna. An idea that could only originate in Finland, courtesy of a distillery founded after a conversation in a sauna. Kyrö Sauna Stories is now on its third edition. This time, the rye whisky is made with grain smoked over freshwater peat, then finished in Monbazillac wine casks housed in a real Finnish sauna. It’s bottled at a robust 50.7% ABV, with just 3,924 bottles produced.

6. Glen Scotia 12 Year Old – Icons of Campbeltown Release No.4 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Rich caramel, dried apricots in syrup, and candied red apple.
• Distillery Location: Campbeltown, Scotland.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: Icons of Campbeltown has given us some superb whiskies already, so Release No.4 was always likely to register on The Whisky Radar. The Campbeltown single malt keeps the standards up with a finish in casks that previously held Vin Santo, a traditional Italian dessert wine made from dried white grapes. It was bottled at 53.8% ABV, non-chill filtered and natural in colour.

7. Starward x Lagavulin Cask Finish 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Juicy red berries, nectarine and soft oak, with earthy smoke and a coastal lift.
• Distillery Location: Melbourne, Australia.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: Melbourne meets Islay in this limited release from Starward, which takes its signature red wine barrel-matured single malt and gives it a further 18 months in casks from Lagavulin. Think juicy red fruit venturing into smoky, coastal territory, with nectarine, charred pineapple and savoury peat. Bottled at 48% ABV, it’s a rather delicious meeting of two distinct whisky worlds.

8. Isle of Wight Signature Malt Blend 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Runny honey, lemon syrup and creamy porridge, with dried fruit and light oak underneath.
• Distillery Location: Isle of Wight, England.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: How would you like to try whisky from the Isle of Wight? This landmark blended malt brings together the distillery’s own single malt, made with locally grown barley, and other single malts sourced from across the UK. Bottled at 40% ABV, the whisky picked up Best English Blended Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards 2026. The Whisky Radar loves a new location.

9. Woodford Reserve Double Double Oak 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Maple syrup, butterscotch and caramel, with dark chocolate, toasted marshmallow and sweet hickory smoke.
• Distillery Location: Kentucky, USA.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: Double Oaked gets an additional two years in a second new oak barrel, deeply toasted and lightly charred, to create the aptly named Double Double Oaked. Bottled at 45.2% ABV, the extended maturation turns up the darker, richer side of Woodford, with maple, caramelised sugars, dark fruit and plenty of warming spice.

10. Johnnie Walker Blue Label Festive Blend 70cl Whisky

• Flavour Profile: Fragrant cardamom, saffron and rosewater, with bright citrus and a touch of honey.
• Distillery Location: Multiple, Scotland.
• Why It’s Worth Trying: Master blender Dr Emma Walker didn’t just draw on Johnnie Walker’s vast reserves to build this blend; the flavours found in Indian cuisine were also an inspiration. The blend layers cardamom, clove and cinnamon with saffron, rosewater, citrus, honeyed sweetness and chocolate-dipped fruit, all underpinned by the gentle smoke associated with Blue Label. You can thank Indian designer Rahul Mishra for the snazzy label.