Loch Lomond 2026 Golf Releases

Loch Lomond release a pair of bottles (and usually some special editions) for each Open Golf Tournament.

This years to celebrate the 154th at Royal Birkdale have just been released!

The pair of bottles are the reasonably priced Open Special Edition (OSE), a NAS at 46% for around the £48 mark and the more expensive Open Course Collection (OCC) usually a 19+ year old age statemented higher ABV release for anywhere from £160 upwards. This years OCC is a 19yo at £195 getting closer to my price point!

Just let me clear up that I am a huge Loch Lomond Fanboy, I buy most, if not all, of their releases. I buy them myself, they don't send me any samples to review. Most of you will also know that I have a top limit of £100 a bottle so haven't bought any of the OCC bottles when they are released but have picked up a few for less that £100 when they have been on offer.

I've reviewed previous Open Golf releases including last year's here. This review is concentrating on the 2026 OSE release which was finished in Argentinian Malbec red wine but for completeness here's a little info on the OCC release first.

Distillery info:

2006 19yo 154th Royal Birkdale

The Open Course Collection celebrates our partnership with The Open, golf’s original and most prestigious Championship, honouring the iconic courses and legendary winners throughout its history.

Distilled in our remarkable Straight neck stills stills, at a range of collection strengths, then matured in casks that have been expertly crafted by our own traditional cooperage, creating a complex whisky that showcases our capability in distilling and our unrivalled ability in flavour creation.

This 19-Year-Old whisky, one of just 3,000 bottles, is crafted from our unique Straight Neck stills. Matured in American Oak and finished in hand-selected Tawny Port casks, it delivers ripe red fruits, toasted oak and warming spice over our signature fruit, honey and soft smoke.

Bottled at 46.9%, non-chill filtered with natural colour to keep things just as nature intended.

So on to the 2026 Open Special Edition, this year it's described as:

"crafted using spirit from our unique straight-neck stills, initially matured in American oak barrels before a vibrant finish in selected Argentinian Malbec Casks. The result is a whisky bursting with dark rich berries and bright citrus, balanced with honeyed depth and a whisper of smoke.".

Distillery info:

"Distilled in our remarkable Straight neck stills stills, at a range of collection strengths, then matured in casks that have been expertly crafted by our own traditional cooperage, creating a complex whisky that showcases our capability in distilling and our unrivalled ability in flavour creation.

This single malt is crafted from whisky distilled only in our unique Straight Neck stills. It is first matured in American Oak casks to build our signature fruit, honey and soft smoke, then finished for 6 months in Argentinian Malbec casks to bring richer dark berries, vibrant red fruits and gentle spice.

Nose: Dark berries, redcurrant and citrus zest with vanilla, honey and soft malt.

Taste: Blackberry, raspberry and peach syrup, layered with crisp apple, toffee sweetness and gentle spice. A subtle thread of smoke runs through the palate.

Finish: Medium length with lingering berry sweetness, soft Oak spice and a light, smoky warmth.

Bottled at 46%, non-chill filtered with natural colour to keep things just as nature intended."

Let's see what it's like!

My thoughts:

First of all the box - it's a very different design to previous OSE bottlings, very retro, I like it!

Appearance: mid gold, swirls cling as a thin line, take a little time to bead up and fall as slow thin oily legs. 

Nose: a faint hint of smoke gives way to typical straight neck pot still orchard fruit notes, honey, vanilla and some red berries.

Palate: thick sweet arrival with honey, caramel & a little liquorice. The smoke from the nose is back, gentle but noticeable. The berries from the Malbec casks then start coming through: strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and some blueberries. There's a bite of peppery spice left on the tongue as the liquid disappears.

Finish: lingering spice, berries and gentle smoke.

Overall: For the second year running an unusual cask finish for the OSE again I don't think I've tried a dram finished in Argentinian Malbec casks before. Like all of the OSE releases this one hits a sub £50 price point delivering a very tasty drinkable dram. I'm still suggesting 2020's CWY is the best, 2023's Rioja 2nd, last year's Chianti was 3rd, this one is very close to that.

Geeky Stuff:

Here's a list of all of the OSE & OCC releases:

Year	Open Special Edition	Open Course Collection
2026 Retro Box	NAS 46% Ex-bourbon, Argentinian Malbec red wine finish	154th Royal Birkdale 2006 19yo 46.9% Tawny Port casks finish
2025 White Box	NAS 46% Ex-bourbon, Chianti red wine finish	153rd Royal Portrush 2002 22yo 46.7% Virgin Spanish oak finish
2024 Blue Box	NAS 46% Ex-bourbon, Chardonnay wine finish	152nd Royal Troon 2000 24yo 47.1% Manzanilla finish
2023 Black Box	NAS 46% Ex-bourbon, Rioja wine finish	151st Royal Liverpool 2000 22yo 48.2% Organic Barley / Organic American Oak
2022 Blue box	NAS 46% American Oak, Claret Finish	150th St Andrews 22yo 48.2% Haut-Medoc Claret Barriques finish
2021 Red box	NAS 46% Ex-bourbon 3 types American oak casks, Virgin Oak finish	149th Royal St Georges (Darren Clarke) 20yo 50.2% English Virgin Oak finish
2020 Grey tube	12yo 46% American refill oak. Chardonnay Wine Yeast fermentation	None
2019 Green box	NAS 46% 3 types of American Oak	148th Royal Portrush (Darren Clarke) 19yo 50.3% Claret finish
2018 Blue box	NAS 46% Ex-bourbon. 30% Chardonnay Wine Yeast	147th Carnoustie 1999 19yo 47.2% refill American Oak

List of all the Golf releases:

Year	Name	ABV	Age	Cask
2026 154th	The Open Special Edition 2026	46%	NAS	Argentinian Malbec red wine finish
	The Open Course Collection 154th Royal Birkdale	46.9%	19	Tawny Port cask finish
2025 153rd	The Open Special Edition 2025	46%	NAS	Chianti red wine finish
	The Open Course Collection 153rd Royal Portrush	46.7%	22	Virgin Spanish Oak finish
	AIG Women’s Open	57.1%	8	Loupiac Wine Hogsheads finish
2024 152nd	The Open Special Edition 2024	46%	NAS	Chardonnay Wine Cask finish
	The Open Course Collection 152nd Royal Troon	47.1%	24	Manzanilla  finish
	Exclusive Cask Limited Edition 1995 29yo Single Cask	47.8%	29	French Sauternes cask finish
	Lee Westwood 3rd Edition 1997 24yo Single Cask	51.6%	24	Refill American bourbon
	AIG Women’s Open	58.9%	8	Rivesaltes Hogsheads finish
2023 151st	The Open Special Edition 2023	46%	NAS	Spanish Rioja Alta Reserva casks
	The Open Course Collection 151st  Royal Liverpool	48.2%	22	Organic Barley / Organic American Oak
	Exclusive Cask Limited Edition 1998 25yo Single Cask	43.2%	25	Oloroso finish
2022 150th	The Open Special Edition 2022	46%	NAS	Claret Red Wine finish
	The Open Course Collection 150th St. Andrew's	48.2%	22	Haut-Medoc Claret Barriques finish
	Exclusive Cask Limited Edition (150th St Andrews)	52.8%	29	Japanese Mizunara Finish
	Lee Westwood 2nd Edition 1995 26yo Single Cask	52.8%	26	Refill American oak
	Louis Oosthuizen 12yo	46%	12	Ex-bourbon
	Royal Troon Edition	46%	10	Ex-bourbon
	Carnoustie Edition	46%	10	Ex-bourbon
	Royal Birkdale Edition	46%	10	Ex-bourbon
	Royal Liverpool Edition	46%	10	Ex-bourbon
	Royal St George's Edition	46%	10	Ex-bourbon
	Royal Lytham Edition	46%	10	Ex-bourbon
2021 149th	The Open Special Edition 2021	46%	NAS	Partial American Virgin Oak finish
	The Open Course Collection 149th Royal St Georges (Darren Clarke)	50.2%	20	English Virgin Oak finish
	Lee Westwood 1st Edition 1996 25yo Single Cask	55.3%	25	Refill American oak
2020	(No Open held this year)
	The Open Special Edition 2020 (12yo CWY)	46%	12	Ex-bourbon
	European Tour - Wales Open & Celtic Classic (2006)	52.3%	13	HP Ex-oloroso finish
	European Tour - UK Championship (2006)	53.4%	13	HP Tawny Port finish
	European Tour - English Championship (2006)	55.2%	13	Rum finish
	European Tour - The Hero Open Forest of Arden (2006)	54.7%	13	Sauternes finish
	European Tour - British Masters (2006)	55.1%	13	Limousin finish
2019 148th	The Open Special Edition 2019	46%	NAS	Ex-bourbon
	The Open Course Collection 148th Royal Portrush (Darren Clarke)	50.3%	19	Claret finish
	Three Wood Matured (Colin Montgomerie)	46.3%	25	Limousin & ex-oloroso finish
	2002 Vintage (Cristie Kerr)	48.14%	17	Pinot Noir finish
	Inchmurrin 2008 (TR)	55.8%	10	Ex-bourbon
2018 147th	The Open Special Edition 2018 (30% CWY)	46%	NAS	Ex-bourbon
	The Open Course Collection 147th Carnoustie	47.2%	19	Ex-bourbon
	1999 Vintage Autograph Edition	50.8%	19	Ex-bourbon
	Single Cask #1912 (Colin Montgomerie)	51.2%	14	Ex-bourbon
	Single Cask #7 (TR)	57.7%	10	Ex-bourbon

Key:

TR : Travel Retail

HP : Heavily Peated

CWY : Chardonnay Wine Yeast (Yummy!)