The International Whisky Competition published its 2026 results on July 7, with judges tasting every entry blind and scoring it across 15 criteria on a 100-point scale. The World section of the results holds the Best World Whisky title along with awards for individual countries, and this year the first-place finishers came from Taiwan, Australia, Austria, and China.
A couple of these categories came close to a clean sweep. Kavalan took all three World Whisky places, and Laizhou finished first and third in China, with Pernod Ricard’s The Chuan between them. Here is a closer look at the four winners and how each one is made.
Kavalan Peatist Oloroso Sherry Cask Single Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky
Award: Whisky of the Year, 1st Place, Best World Whisky, 96.97 points
Tasting Notes: Smoky peat, tropical fruit, buttery toffee, charcoal-roasted plums, dark dried fruits, fresh herbs, raisins, figs, savoury-sweet black dates, candied plums, wood, cinnamon, cloves, chocolate, coffee, nuts
Find Your Next Bottle: $133 / £130
First, to Taiwan. Kavalan has made quite the name for itself at this year’s IWC, with 8 of its whiskies amongst the Top 15. This expression, however, is the one that has outdone them all.
Peatist is the range Kavalan uses for its peated whiskies, which sit apart from the fruit-driven style the distillery built its name on. The malt is lightly peated and comes from Europe, and Kavalan has said it adjusts its distillation cuts to hold onto the smoky character. This release spent its maturation in Oloroso sherry casks and was bottled from a single cask at natural strength, without chill filtration or added coloring.
The distillery runs ten pairs of pot stills in Yilan County, northeastern Taiwan, and takes its water from the Xueshan range. It belongs to the King Car Group, which built the site in 2005 and released its first whisky in 2008. Taiwan’s climate speeds up maturation, with a higher angel’s share than is seen in cooler climates.
Kavalan’s head of research and development, Zerose Yang, was also named Master Distiller of the Year at the 2026 awards.
Nullaki Single Malt – Tawny Cask 0017
Award: 1st Place, Best Australian Whisky, 91.83 points
Tasting Notes: Caramel, blackcurrants, syrupy fruits, vanilla
Find Your Next Bottle: AUS$395
Then to Australia, and a distillery that began distilling in 2022. Nullaki sits on Mount Shadforth Road in Denmark, Western Australia, and takes its name from the nearby Nullaki Peninsula.
According to Nullaki, barley is sourced from within Western Australia and across the Great Southern, and the wash is fermented with a mixture of distillers, saison, and Belgian ale yeasts selected according to the cask the spirit is headed for. Distillation happens in small batches on a steam-heated copper pot still built by Stillsmiths in Tasmania, whose tall, narrow design the distillery says is meant to produce a light and approachable spirit.
The Tawny casks are sourced from the Swan Valley, and most of the spirit matures in French oak barriques held in a barrel store sunk into the hillside with passive ventilation. The whisky is reduced with water from Nullaki’s own spring and bottled at 44% ABV.
On the Nullaki website, one of the expressions listed is the first release, with batch identifier 0006. There is also a Distiller’s Cut 0021. However, it was specifically barrel 0017 that won at the IWC 2026.
Single Grain, WHISKY Bio Schlägler Roggen, Mostellofass
Award: 1st Place, Best Austrian Whisky, 89.60 points
Tasting Notes: Creamy, chocolate pudding, blancmange, cereal, dried pears, prunes
Find Your Next Bottle: € 60.80
Austria’s winner comes from Destillerie Farthofer in Öhling, in the Mostviertel region of Lower Austria, and the cask needs a word of explanation. Mostello is Farthofer’s own pear dessert wine, made from local Mostviertel pear varieties using the port method, and this whisky spent eight years in barriques that had previously held it.
It is a single grain whisky rather than a single malt, made from organic Schlägler rye, a heritage variety, and malted in Farthofer’s own maltings. Josef and Doris Farthofer produce around 40 organic spirits and liqueurs between them, and are probably still best known for O-Vodka, named the world’s best vodka at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 2012.
The whisky is bottled at 55% ABV without dilution, is non-smoky, and is sealed by hand with stamped wax.
Laizhou Amontillado Sherry Cask
Award: 1st Place, Best Chinese Whisky, 93.87 points
Tasting Notes: Herbal notes, brown sugar, floral hints, candied plum, dried apricot, nuts, syrupy sweetness, gourmet chocolate
Find Your Next Bottle: $86 / £75.50
Finally to China, and much the strongest bottling of the four. Laizhou released this one at 66% ABV, matured in first-fill Amontillado sherry casks brought in from Spain.
Laizhou operates its own cooperage and works with a wide spread of cask types, from bourbon and sherry through to wine and Chinese huangjiu. The distillery was completed in 2021 after a five-year build, so nothing bottled under the name has had long in wood, and this release carries no age statement.
The Chinese category was close at the top. Laizhou also took third place with its Sherry Harmony No. 3, and the whisky separating the two was Pernod Ricard’s The Chuan Pure Malt with a PX finish, at 93.13 points.
A Small Field At The Top
Worth noticing is how few producers sit behind these results. Kavalan filled all three World Whisky places, Laizhou took two of the three Chinese spots, MORRIS took second and third in Australia, and the Austrian entries all share Farthofer’s naming and cask style. The IWC does not publish how many whiskies were entered in each category, so the placings are hard to read as a full picture of what any of these countries produces.
Have you tried any of these four? Are there any you would like to get your hands on, and what do you make of this year’s awards? Let us know in the comments.