In early 2021, Dewar’s partnered with the USGA, kicking off a multiyear arrangement that, to date, has established the famous blended whisky brand as the official Scotch whisky of the U.S. Open. The sponsorship was an immediate match made in heaven, as it produced an annual series of limited-edition bottlings of a 19-year-old blended Scotch, each release a unique whisky crafted to celebrate the USGA’s marquee event. Along the way, a portion of the proceeds would benefit the USGA Foundation, while Dewar’s benefited in two indirect ways. First, the synergy aligned the whisky producer with a sport as synonymous with Scotland as the brand’s famous distilled spirit. Second, it established a formal connection with the United States, a region that is—and has historically been—one of the world’s leading importers of Scotch whisky.

The Champions Edition whisky that debuted in 2021 immediately stood out (as all subsequent releases have) for being one of only a few Scotch whiskies with a 19-year age statement. It also benefited from an extra finishing phase in exbourbon casks. The following year, Dewar’s upped the ante, so to speak, incorporating ex-rye whiskey barrels and new American oak casks, along with ex-bourbon barrels, to finish the whisky.

But it was in 2023 that the series truly found its stride, incorporating into the finishing process barrels and casks that had previously held alcohol other than whiskey. To celebrate the U.S. Open’s visit to Los Angeles Country Club, for example, Master Blender Stephanie Macleod and her team created an ode to the Golden State, zeroing in on red wine casks from Napa Valley to finish the blend. Similarly, when the Open traveled to Oakmont Country Club in 2025, Macleod selected ex-Calvados casks, which paid homage to Oakmont Country Club’s apple brandy roots and also reflected the many apple orchards found throughout the state of Pennsylvania.

For the past three years, the intentions behind the Champions Edition have become more specific, more refined. Macleod has transformed the series of limited whiskies into an ever-evolving project that each year turns an already unique 19-year-old product into a spirit that boldly celebrates a sense of place. And in 2026, those ideals are as resolute as they’ve ever been.

The sixth installment of Dewar’s Champions Edition features a blended whisky made from the nuanced assemblage of as many as 30 single-malt and grain whiskies, all of which have aged for a minimum of 19 years. Yet, the collectible whisky’s crowning achievement is its final maturation in ex–Cabernet Franc wine casks sourced from Long Island’s Wölffer Estate, a sustainable winery located only nine miles east of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. As Macleod acknowledges, the whisky is unlike anything Dewar’s has crafted before, and that uniqueness reflects her original motivation. “Creating a whisky inspired by the U.S. Open encouraged me to think a little differently about how terroir could shape the final expression,” she says. “This created an opportunity to explore finishing casks we might not typically use, with the intention of adding a distinct sense of origin to a 19-year-old whisky.”