Moray MPs Take on the Budget, Bowmore Revives The Devil's Casks, and Australia Makes History
Three stories worth knowing about today: Moray politicians take the whisky tax fight to the Chancellor, Bowmore brings back one of its most storied limited series, and an Australian distillery does something no one down there has done before.
Moray MPs Call on the Chancellor to End the Whisky Tax Attack
Two politicians representing Moray have written directly to the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the Autumn Budget later this month, asking the UK Government to cut spirits duty and stop what they describe as a sustained attack on the Scotch whisky industry.
The letter was sent jointly by Graham Leadbitter MP (Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey, SNP) and Laura Mitchell MSP (Moray, SNP). Their constituency sits at the heart of Scotch whisky production. Moray is home to a third of all distilleries in Scotland, and one in nine jobs in the area is tied to the whisky industry.
The politicians point to a 17% increase in whisky duty over the past three years. Of that rise, 7.3% came from two consecutive annual increases under the previous Labour government, while 10.1% was the single-step rise in the Conservative Autumn Budget of 2023, the largest increase in spirits duty in 50 years. The letter references 1,000 jobs lost in the industry last year and warns that one in four distilleries is planning further cuts, with an estimated £1.1 billion in lost Treasury revenue as a result.
The letter also invokes First Minister John Swinney's earlier intervention with the White House over US tariffs on Scotch, which helped secure relief from those duties earlier this year. The MPs argue that the same political commitment is now owed domestically.
The Autumn Budget is due later this month. Whether spirits duty features in it remains to be seen, but the pressure from one of the industry's most concentrated regions is now on the record.
Bowmore Brings Back The Devil's Casks — and This Time There's a 22-Year-Old
Bowmore has revived The Devil's Casks, a limited series that built a cult following between 2013 and 2015, with two new expressions that go back further than anything in the original trilogy.
The first release in the revived series is The Devil's Casks 10-Year-Old, matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks and finished in first-fill Pedro Ximénez. It is bottled at 56.6% ABV and priced at £70. The second is The Devil's Casks 22-Year-Old, made from two casks held back from the original releases and matured for a further decade. It is bottled at cask strength 59.6% ABV and priced at £380.
Both expressions are exclusive to The Whisky Shop, the UK's largest specialist whisky retailer. Fans can register interest in the 10-Year-Old from today, with the release date set for 16 October. The 22-Year-Old goes to ballot on 31 October and is available only to those who purchase the 10-Year-Old first. From 1 December, both expressions will also be available at the Bowmore distillery itself.
The original Devil's Casks trilogy drew its name from a local Islay legend. The story goes that the devil fled into Bowmore distillery while being chased through the village, and escaped inside a whisky cask bound for the mainland. The series became known for bringing out a darker, richer character of Bowmore through heavy sherry cask influence alongside the distillery's signature coastal smoke.
Master blender Calum Fraser said the revival gave the team the chance to explore what made those original whiskies distinctive while offering both long-term fans and newer collectors the opportunity to experience them. The plan is for more archive revivals to follow in the years ahead.
Bowmore, established in 1779, is Islay's oldest licensed distillery and Scotland's second oldest. Earlier this year, its 21-Year-Old Sherry Oak Cask took World's Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards 2026.
Australia Gets Its First Bottled-in-Bond Whisky — From a Rye Specialist in Melbourne
The Gospel Distillery in Melbourne has released what it describes as the first Australian whisky to meet the strict production standards laid out in the American Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897.
The Bottled-in-Bond Act was one of the earliest consumer protection laws in US history. It requires that a spirit be made by a single distiller at a single distillery in a single distilling season, aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least four years, and bottled at exactly 100 proof (50% ABV). The label has only ever been applied to American spirits, but The Gospel met every one of those requirements in its Melbourne distillery.
The Gospel Bonded Rye Whiskey uses 100% un-malted Australian rye from a single farm in Murray Mallee, South Australia. It was created by master distiller Ian Thorn. The release is available now directly from the distillery and at select independent retailers, with an RRP of AU$140.
The Gospel was founded in 2019 by engineers-turned-distillers Andrew Fitzgerald and Ben Bowles, with a stated mission of building the Australian answer to great American rye. Co-founder Andrew Fitzgerald described the Bonded Rye as the most deliberate whisky the distillery has ever made. It is the distillery's first new core range expression in nearly six years.
Australian whisky has grown rapidly as a category. Earlier this year, Andy Gaunt of Tasmania's Sullivan's Cove Distillery said the country's whisky could grow to be as internationally significant as Australian wine. Today's release is another data point in that direction.
Sources
From the Clan Store
All three stories today have Scotland and Islay at their heart. If you want to wear your allegiance while you follow the news, the Scotland Collection has you covered.
Explore the full collection at whisky-clan.com/shop.
Comments