More ‘Heresy’ awards success

The Society scooped three prestigious Master awards for three releases from its ‘Heresy’ bottlings, which have been garnering acclaim since they were launched in 2017 with Exotic cargo.

Since then, there have been 46 releases under the ‘Heresy’ label, so called because when it launched we were conscious that it was challenging our commitment to single cask, single malt. We put the early releases out ‘for members’ approval’ and the approval has been resounding.

In the past nine years the Society’s Whisky Team have come up with all manner of innovative and challenging releases under our ‘Heresy’ line, and with these Spirits Business Luxury Masters 2026 awards, each member of the team now has an award for their own ‘Heresy’ bottling recipe.

The success in the Luxury Masters comes on the heels of three more of our small-batch ‘Heresy’ bottlings, Batch 39: The five regions, Batch 40: Fruit bomb, and Batch 41: Incognito, winning Gold in all three of their entries in the Spirits Business Scotch Whisky Masters competition in August.

SPIRITS BUSINESS LUXURY MASTERS 2026 RESULTS IN FULL

MASTER
SCOTCH WHISKY: BLENDED/BLENDED MALT/BLENDED GRAIN – SUPER PREMIUM (£31-50)
Master’s quest: Sherry Gold Selection (China exclusive)
Batch 46: Lobster pot (due for release in December)

SCOTCH WHISKY: SINGLE MALT – SUPER PREMIUM (£51-£99)
Batch 43: Noble drop

GOLD
SCOTCH WHISKY: SINGLE MALT – SUPER PREMIUM (£51-£99)
Batch 42: Highland peaty potion

“This is an exceptional set of results for The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,” said Richard Cochrane from the Spirits Business. “For the SMWS to receive three Master medals, the highest medal we award, along with one Gold medal from their four entries, is an exceptional achievement, especially within such a competitive field. Massive congratulations!”