What Is The World’s Best Whisky 2026? Bowmore 21 Year Old
The World’s Best Whisky 2026 has been named. The World Whiskies Awards were last night and named what its judges deemed the best of the best.
The big headline. Bowmore 21 Year Old Sherry Cask is the World’s Best Single Malt. Islay, age, sherry. Not exactly a rogue result. But a worthy one.
The awards at London’s The Waldorf Hotel were the usual mix of celebration, back-slapping, and pretending to be thrilled for other people.
Bowmore 21 Year Old, in all its glory
The story beyond Bowmore
Take a step back and look across the winners and you appreciate just how global whisky has become. Judges, led by Bradley Weir, handed top titles to producers from Australia, Belgium, China, Spain, Japan, and beyond. Not “emerging” anymore. Just… here.
Mongolian oak maturation, Tasmanian rye, English sherry casks, and Irish grain are going toe-to-toe with the old guard. And winning.
The evening closed with the induction of two new members of the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame; Serge Valentin of Whisky Fun and Tadashi Sakuma, former chief blender for Nikka Whisky.
Anyway, we know what you want. The full list of World’s Best winners. Without further ado…
Here are your winners!
World’s Best Whisky 2026 Winners:
World’s Best Single Malt
World’s Best Bourbon
World’s Best Small Batch Bourbon
World’s Best Pot Still
World’s Best Blended
- Ballantine’s 23 Years Old
World’s Best Blended Limited Release
- Ichiro’s Malt & Grain Blended Japanese Whisky 2026
World’s Best Blended Malt
- Kwun Cheung Mongolian Oak Aged
World’s Best Grain
- Fercullen 15 Year Old
World’s Best Rye
- Siderit PX Cask Rye
World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt
- Sullivans Cove French Oak White Wine Old & Rare TD0112.
World’s Best Small Batch Single Malt
- The English Sherry Hogshead
World’s Best Canadian Blended.
- JP Wiser’s 27 Years Old Mizunara Oak
World’s Best Wheat.
World’s Best Corn
- Black Jack Whiskey Classic
World’s Best Flavoured Whisky
- Woven WXC
World’s Best New Make & Young Spirit
- Ohtani Whisky Niigata Kameda NewPot Peated 2026
World’s Best Design
- Lark Range
