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I love Japanese whiskies, in fact one of the first whiskies I have ever had was a Yoichi 10 years old when I read something in the newspaper about the best whisky in the world. I was around seven years ago and ( I still have no clue about how it ended there ) I found a Nikka Yoichi 10yo on the shop where I used to buy my wine. Then I discovered Yamazaki, and Taketsuru and the awesome blended malts of Nikka and finally one day I discovered Karuizawa… Damn day! To taste such great whisky just to learn that it is to never be done again…

Well… maybe this Isawa is a hidden gem. It looks like it was created at Monde Shuzo distillery in Japan’s main island.

“Not bad but it is quite light, much like a blended whisky. Japan produces better whiskies that this Isawa”

86

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (87): average. honey, citrus, cardboard, wood, floral, spices .

Palate (85): light, smooth. honey, spices, pepper, citrus, wood, floral, vanilla.

Finish (85): average. honey, citrus, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Isawa Japanese Blended Whisky with 86 points over 100.

I didn’t like it enough. You can get better stuff for its price.

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Bushmills claims to have the oldest distilling license in the world and this whiskey pays homage to that fact. And well, I have said so many times that I don’t enjoy Irish whiskey that most of you should already know… there are of course exceptions, notable exceptions, but this Bushmills is on that category.

“I was expecting something better for such a great event as the 400^th anniversary... but well... lovers of Irish whiskey will enjoy it”

88

A special bottling to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the license to distil aqua vitae in Antrim originally granted in 1608 to Sir Thomas Phillips. This has already won 'Best Irish Blended Whiskey (No Age Statement)' at the World Whiskies Awards 2008.

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. honey, citrus, vanilla, fruits, peaches, raisins. Irish whiskey with a twist. Really nice.

Palate (86): smooth, powerful. honey, citrus, floral, wood, spices.

Finish (87): longer than average. honey, spices, floral.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Bushmills 1608 400th anniversary with 88 points over 100.

Well, it is not expensive and it isn’t a bad dram. If you enjoy Irish whiskey this could be a great option.

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Today I review a blended whiskey from Ireland, created by Cooley distilleries.

“Dry and green with a strong woody character. Not my cup of tea if you ask me”

85

Millar's is a blend of malt and grain whiskeys from the Cooley distillery, matured in first-fill bourbon casks.

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (88): more than average. honey, citrus, floral, wood, corn, vanilla, cinnamon. Sweet, very Irish with a touch of woody cinnamon aromas.

Palate (84): light. honey, wood, floral, green banana, pears.

Finish (84): average. wood, floral, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Millars Special Reserve Blended Irish Whiskey with 85 points over 100.

The nose is fantastic. It is two steps above the standard cheap Jameson. I am not much into the blends but this one is a good option.

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When I first read about Balvenie Tun 1401 I was quite excited because I love the idea and lots of people seemed to love the whisky. I was quite dissappointed when I learnt that it was beyond my pocket size at launch time…

So I forget about it until I recently found a sample of it for a reasonable price. And so I tasted…

“All the lovely Oloroso character of Balvenie with a touch of sweet sherry. SImply gorgeous...if only it wasn't so expensive”

91

The long awaited follow up to the distillery only first batch, Tun 1401 Batch 2 is named for Malt Master David Stewart's favourite marrying tun, used to create this whisky. It's a multi-vintage combination of sherry and bourbon cask whiskies from the late 1960s through to the late 1980s and elegantly blends age and (comparative) youthful vigour.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. nuts, wood, honey, citrus, sulphur, peaches.

Palate (92): powerful, oily. nuts, honey, citrus, spices, flowers, pepper, vanilla, liquorice. Fantastic flavor!

Finish (91): longer than average. honey, liquorice, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Balvenie Tun 1401 - Batch 2 with 91 points over 100.

My advice is Buy if you can afford, it is a sensational dram, but it is too expensive for my pocket. Much like the excelent Balvenie 30 years old… Damn!

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The guys at CaskStrength are aboard the task of bottling a whisky for every letter of the alphabet, so after a very nice Arran whisky they have bottled this Benriach and recently a cask strength Cutty Sark and a vatted whisky of three distilleries starting with letter D… wisely named 3D.

“Is this from a refill cask? Very interesting notes of sultanas and figs but not the overwhelming character of PX casks aged whiskies. A gentle sherry dram”

90

This single cask whisky is the second release from Caskstrength.net and represents the "B" in their A-Z of drinks.

Released in conjunction with BenRiach, this rich and powerful dram was distilled in 1996, aged for 16 years, and bottled at cask strength (55.2%). It comes from one cask (5614) and thus has a limited release of only 296 bottles.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (89): more than average. honey, fruits, figs, vanilla, citrus.

Palate (90): powerful, oily. honey, wood, citrus, spices, raisins, white chocolate.

Finish (90): longer than average. honey, citrus, raisins.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Benriach Caskstrength and Carry on with 90 points over 100.

A great whiskies. Highly recommended.

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anCnoc is a distillery that creates a great whisky but it isn’t widely known… and I think it has to do with the fact that they love to change their name from time to time.

“Great whisky! With that great fingerprint of anCnoc. But if you want to listen to me, get the 12 years old, it is better value for the money”

90

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. honey, vanilla, wood, citrus, floral. anCnoc's seal on this one. Unmistakable.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. honey, vanilla, citrus, spices, cinnamon, candies. Fantastic! but it doesn't looks like 22 years old. It is more vibrant and young.

Finish (90): longer than average. honey, spices, candies.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this anCnoc 22 Year Old with 90 points over 100.

It is a great value whisky, but bang for the buck I would buy the 12 years old.

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Jim Murray named Old Pulteney the best whisky in the world a few years ago… that was when I was young and I believed that the poor guy even care about tasting his whiskies. I bought a Old Pulteney 21yo because everyone was mad about (buying) it. So it came the day when I open the bottle and tasted it… it was much like when Dorothy meets the Great Oz.

But forget it… this Old Pulteney 30 years old is made with the same stuff dreams are created.

“Respect! Maybe the best Old Pulteney whisky I have had. This could really have been Best Whisky of the World”

92

70cl / 44% / Distillery Bottling - A much-anticipated addition to the Old Pulteney range, this 30yo has had extremely favourable reviews and, thankfully, this looks like living up to expectations and justifying the pricetag.

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (91): more than average. candies, flowers, citrus, vanilla, spices. Respect!

Palate (93): smooth, oily. candies, spices, citrus, flowers, vanilla, wood, cinnamon, pears.

Finish (92): longer than average. candies, spices, vanilla.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Old Pulteney 30 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky with 92 points over 100.

Well, it is expensive but it is also damn good. I would buy it if I have the money… and I can’t say the same about their 21 years old.

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Dailuaine was founded in 1851 in the Speyside region ( and have been there since that time ) and was the first distillery to feature a pagoda roof for its malt kiln, a successful design that rapidly was adopted by other distilleries.

Quite interesting, but is it the whisky good? Well, this whisky has been bottled by Douglas Laing ( it is hard to get a whisky that I don’t like from them… but still possible ) and it is part of their Director’s Cut range, a batch of whiskies from chosen casks and bottled at cask strength without chill filtration or anything added but single malt whisky.

“Fantastic! Dry floral awesome single malt! Excellent work”

91

Dailuaine 40 Year Director's Cut Speyside single malt Scotch whisky bottled by Douglas Laing is a malt from a single cask refill hogshead #8186 and distilled in December 1971 and bottled in February 2012 with a result of 117 bottles.

This bottle is part of the Douglas Laing Director's Cut range

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (92): average. honey, flowers, spices, vanilla, citrus. Fantastic nose.

Palate (91): dry, powerful, oily. honey, wood, eucalyptus, spices, pepper, vanilla.

Finish (91): longer than average. eucalyptus, flowers.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Dailuaine 40 Year Old Director's Cut with 91 points over 100.

Highly recommended. If you see it and you can afford this malt you will get a very rewarding experience.

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Just two days ago it happened to me one of the strangest things I have done lately. I was doing with Steve Rush and other whisky chaps the #abbeywhisky Tweet tasting and then I tasted the #4 sample and definitively I knew I needed it. I bought the bottle on the very middle of the tasting ( Sorry Steve, I had to! ). Had I tasted it before I would have included on the Top 10 Whiskies to enjoy this Christmas.

I haven’t tasted any other Glendronach Oloroso single cask, but this one was fantastic. Oh, well, and we tasted other stuff… but really the Glendronach eclipsed everything else… and £89.95 a bottle isn’t much to think about it nowadays.

So the whiskies…

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When I think of peat almost automatically I think of Islay whiskies ( and if you don’t you should read this article! ) but there is lots of peat outside that little island. Benriach, that now owns too Glendronach and Glenglassaugh distilleries, has had a stormy past with periods of time closed until it was rescued and reopened in 2004.

Since that year we have seen lots of different aged and finished Benriach whiskies, in particular the whisky we review today, Arumaticus, is part of a series of 12 years old peated whiskies aged in different cask types: Importanticus Fumosus, Aromaticus Fumosus and Heredotus.

Benriach Arumaticus has been aged in Dark rum casks for twelve years.

“I wasn't aware that this one was peated. Good one but I don't think the finish really adds anything interesting”

90

As the name suggests, this is a peated Benriach that's been finished in a rum cask.

This dram has a white wine-like color.

Nose (91): more than average. peat, honey, citrus, earth, fruits.

Palate (89): powerful, oily. peat, honey, earth, citrus, fruits, coffee.

Finish (90): longer than average. peat, earth, honey.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this BenRiach Arumaticus 12 Year Old (Dark Rum Finish) with 90 points over 100.

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Glendronach is one of my favorites distilleries ( even if I didn’t featured them in the list of ten whiskies everyone must taste this Christmas ) and they bottle great whiskies like the Glendronach 15 years old Revival or their amazing single cask releases.

So you can understand my happiness when I read that they were releasing a cask strength NAS version of their whisky. I taste here the 1^st batch but they are already on the 3^rd.

“Good Glendronach whisky! Seems a blend of Oloroso and PX casks which works really well. One ordered.”

90

The first batch of no-age-statement cask strength whisky from Glendronach, bottled at 54.8% and originally released in December 2012. It's a vatting of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez matured whisky, shown in its colour and intense sherried flavour.

This dram has a tawny-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. nuts, honey, toffee, citrus, figs, cocoa.

Palate (90): powerful, oily. nuts, honey, citrus, wood, cocoa, spices, dates.

Finish (91): longer than average. nuts, citrus, chocolate.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Glendronach Cask Strength / Batch 1 with 90 points over 100.

Although I don’t usually enjoy PX drams, and this one has more than a bit of it, I liked the Glendronach Cask Strength a lot. I am happy to have bought a bottled. Good whisky.

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Oh My God! I did this incredible Highland Park Tasting ten days ago and I still haven’t find time to write this article… I have no excuses, well, no, in fact, I really have, a friend of mine told me about Homeland and I have been watching First and Second seasons since then. But no more excuses, you really need to know about these whiskies that unfortunately are Duty-free/Travel retail exclusives.

I am not a huge fan of Highland Park because they don’t send me samples because I can get as good whiskies as Highland Park for less money. A few years ago someone once told me that there are two kind of Highland Park whiskies: overwatered and overpriced. I though it was a joke and although there are fantastic whiskies ( and I mean really crazy good whiskies ) on this tasting all of them goes to one or the other category. That’s said I have to say that I love the 25yo and the 30yo. Outstanding malts!.

Oouch! If I keep writing like this I won’t be able to watch another chapter of Homeland before the day ends, so let me show you what we tasted on the #HPWarriorTT.

Highland Park has released a range of whisky called The Warriors to pay homage to famous Orkney viking chiefs and so named the range of six bottles after them. So let’s review the whiskies…

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I was talking a few days ago at Facebook about how stupid whisky prices are nowadays and I was particularly talking about Octomore. When I saw the Octomore 10 years old Limited Release for sale I were going to buy it but as soon as I saw it for £150 I decided to put it on a hold.

Paying £150 for a 10 years old is excessive by any means and well… all the point of this blog is to buy good whisky for better prices. So buying the Octomore ( I still think the same ) was a bad deal. Fortunately ( or unfortunately ) the whisky sold out in a few hours and now a few months later it is for same for twice its price: £300. Crazy.

What I was talking about?! A yes… I tasted the new Octomore 06.1 at The Whisky Show 2013. And I also discovered there that Octomore 06.2 and Octomore 06.3 are going to be duty-free exclusives.

“Fantastic! A real cracking pure peat pleasure”

92

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (91): strong. peat, earth, honey, vanilla, citrus.

Palate (92): powerful, oily. peat, honey, citrus, vanilla, earth, wood, spices.

Finish (92): longer than average. peat, honey, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Bruichladdich Octomore 06.1 5 Year Old Scottish Barley with 92 points over 100.

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Is this whisky good enough to pay £100? I don’t really think so, but it is a quite nice whisky. If you really don’t mind the price tag, go ahead. You won’t be disappointed.

What do you think about its price? Did you buy it?

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Perhaps the main ingredient in the succesful Bells Blended whisky, it is not common to see Blair Athol as a single malt.
So this fact makes this Duncan Taylor whisky even more interesting.

“I don't enjoy floral dry drams. This is one of them. Not bad anyway. I could live drinking this”

88

This single malt was distilled in May of 1989 at Blair Athol and it was aged for 22 years in cask 2926 before bottling by Duncan Taylor for their Rare Auld range in November 2011.

A release of 277 numbered bottles at natural cask strength

This dram has a white wine-like color.

Nose (88): average. honey, vanilla, citrus, spices, flowers.

Palate (88): powerful, oily. honey, floral, vanilla, spices, wood.

Finish (88): longer than average. honey, floral.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Blair Athol 22 Year Old 1989 - Rare Auld (Duncan Taylor) with 88 points over 100.

Well, although it isn’t my style ( and I enjoy Bells whisky ) it is a very decent dram. For those of you that love floral light whiskies.

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Habemus winner! So, this fantastic Whisky Advent Calendar is for…

…Bah dum dum…

A Wardrobe of Whisky is proud to announce that the winner of the Master of Malt’s Whisky Advent Calendar is…

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With Christmas so close it is time to stock a few malt to either enjoy them with the friends and family or just to enjoy them on your own despite your friends and family. You can use this as a list of best xmas whisky gifts but I really advise you against it… this stuff is quite good for giving it away.

Whisky world is getting each day more and more exclusive ( and this sucks ), there are tons of limited special editions of great distilleries like Lagavulin, Macallan or Glenlivet and it is each time harder to get one of them because they are either too limited or too expensive or both of them most times. So let me help you choosing interesting stuff for this Holiday and you thank it me later.

First, please remember that I really love young peated whiskies, mid age sherried Speysiders and very old ex-bourbon casks malts. If you share my taste go ahead blindly, you won’t be disappointed. Second, I am tired of reading about whisky bottles that I can’t afford… I don’t know anyone who can afford a £2000 Lagavulin, I don’t even know anyone crazy enough to buy the Lagavulin 21yo so my ten suggestions are on the affordable ( *ejem* I mean “affordable”… most of my friends insists that I am crazy ) range of the single malt spectrum.

So let’s see the list

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It is a pleasure to visit every year The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show because there are great whiskies waiting for me. One of the definitively most interesting stands is Douglas Laing one because they have very good whiskies and they are still priced in such a way that it looks like they really want you to buy them… ( Who the fuck can pay £2000 for a Lagavulin?! ).

It is a pleasure to be there between all the Clan Denny awesome stuff, their Director’s Cut, this year new range of Old Particular and of course Big Peat. You all know that I love peated whiskies… so I was slightly disappointed when I first tasted Big Peat and it didn’t fulfill my expectations, it was peated but no big peated at all… so when I tasted Big Peat Xmas 2012 Limited Edition I was taken by surprise by an awesome whisky. You can imagine how happy I was when I saw Big Peat Xmas 2013 this year.

So, let’s taste the whisky.

“Absolutely delightful whisky with a nice peat punch... although I want to believe that last year whisky was slightly better”

91

This dram has a white wine-like color.

Nose (91): more than average. peat, smoke, citrus, vanilla, earth.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. peat, earth, honey, citrus, vanilla, coffee.

Finish (91): longer than average. peat, smoke, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Big Peat at Christmas 2013 with 91 points over 100.

Highly recommended. But if you can find it, grab the 2012 version. It was slightly more “macho” :)

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It is always nice to taste a Bruichladdich whisky. So you can understand that when I was at The Whisky Show 2013 I assaulted their stand and drank all their stuff ( a bit of each of course ).

Bruichladdich has started a new campaign to reclaim the “terroir” in whisky. They are creating lots of whiskies with barley from local farms or in this case with barley only from Scotland ( Did you know that Scotch can be done with barley from anywhere in the world?! ).

So, the whisky…

“A decent Bruichladdich whisky but on the other hand pretty uninteresting”

87

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (87): more than average. honey, citrus, vanilla.

Palate (87): powerful, oily. honey, citrus, vanilla, spices, wood.

Finish (87): longer than average. honey, vanilla.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Bruichladdich Scottish Barley - The Classic Laddie with 87 points over 100.

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As I said I love Bruichladdich whiskies, but this one is mean, completely unpeated and showing signs of being bottled just too young. Bad whisky! Bad! Go to your cask and sleep three more years! On the other hand I tasted this Islay Farm and it was a hell more interesting

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First time I read Loch Lomond I had no idea what they were talking about, later I discovered that it is a Loch Lomond still is a special kind of still that can alter the way that it works easily making different types of whiskies. So many that in fact Loch Lomond released up to seven different types of whiskies between single malts and blended whiskies.

Here I am reviewing their most basic single malt offer, the entry level Loch Lomond Single Malt.

“Not sure what to make with this whisky... It could be a moscatel finished highlander?”

85

A mellow, slightly peaty nose, with a hint of brandy butter. The taste on the palette is sweet, smokey, with hints of finest Madeira wine and has a long, mellow finish, with echoes of a raisiny Christmas pudding.

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (84): more than average. honey, fruits, raisins, citrus, vanilla. I have tasted this before... Highlands?

Palate (85): powerful, oily. honey, citrus, fruity, wood, vanilla.

Finish (86): longer than average. honey, wood, tobacco.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Loch Lomond with 85 points over 100.

Not recommended… unless you want to appreciate good whisky. This Loch Lomond makes good whiskies look even better.

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From the author of don’t invest in whisky and why Johnnie Walker will kill you, I introduce today a question that has been hitting my since I visited The Whisky Show 2013.
While I was there, I attended the Girvan Single Grain Whisky Tasting with… erm… nevermind I don’t remember his name. It was an interesting tasting with a little Powerpoint explaining us how the Girvan plant was built, how big it was and how much alcohol it can produce. Then, we tasted three whiskies, a 25 years old, a one without name but very young and a 30 years old.

You all know that I am from Spain, and well, English isn’t my main language and we Spaniards don’t stand for our skill learning other languages so for me it is for me hard to write and really express what I want to say but I have a bigger issue when talking and listening to english ( I am improving )… so during the tasting I think I listened the person in charge explain us that this “quite special” Girvan whisky was going to have a retail price of £250. What. The. Hell. £250!. It must be my english. Damn! Two Hundred Fifty. It can’t be right.

I really think you can’t explain how big and how much alcohol Girvan produce and then try to “sell” me a bottle of whisky as something special with a special price tag… C’mon! You have another 60 million litres of it on casks, every year.

With malt whisky we are “suffering” a similar experience with more and more expensive releases each day. It is like a competition about who charge more for its whiskies. So my question is: Do you think it is legit? Where is the limit? When is it enough?

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I always have at home a bottle of Balvenie 12 years old Doublewood. I love it. It is a good whisky with lots of flavour and a very interesting price. So I was quite happy when I knew that The Balvenie released a 17 years old Doublewood.

The Balvenie 17 years old is “slightly” more expensive than the 12 years old. So my question and the one you perhaps are asking yourself, Is it worth the price?

“Quite nice Balvenie with a hint of age not seen on the younger versions. A real nice treat if you ask me”

90

Another fantastic invention from the workbench of Balvenie Malt Master David Stewart - a 17 year old version of the best selling DoubleWood. Still initially matured in'Whisky Oak' casks before being switched to sherry wood to finish, the extra years give it extra depth without being overpowering.

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. honey, spices, cinnamon, vanilla, tobacco, wood.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. honey, vanilla, wood, cinnamon, vanilla, nuts, candies.

Finish (90): longer than average. candies, citrus.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Balvenie 17 Year Old / DoubleWood Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky with 90 points over 100.

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Well, it is a quite nice whisky. I bought one bottle but if you ask me if I will change my 12 years old for this one I have to say that I don’t.

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Fettercairn has gone recently on a repacking of their range dropping the “Old” word. This Fettercairn Fior is a non age statement ( NAS ) whisky that it is released on a really cool bottle and with a strength of 42% ABV.

“A bit light of nose but not bad at all. Undecided about if this one is peated or have a ton of wood in it. Interesting malt”

87

70cl / 42% / Distillery Bottling - Fior means pure or true in Gaelic, and this no-age-statement bottling launched in summer 2010 is something of a rebirth for the much-maligned Fettercairn distillery. Described by the producers as tasting of dark chocolate, coffee beans and peat smoke, with nutmeg, mint, citrus fruits and truffle. The finish is said to be of sherry trifle, marzipan and pineapple.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (85): average. honey, citrus, spices, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla.

Palate (88): powerful, oily. honey, citrus, peat, spices, raisins, pepper.

Finish (87): longer than average. honey, peat.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Fettercairn Fior Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky with 87 points over 100.

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Not sure what I would make if it. Personally for me it is a not buy. It isn’t good enough

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When I think of peat almost automatically I think of Islay whiskies ( and if you don’t you should read this article! ) but there is lots of peat outside that little Scotch island. Benriach, that now owns too Glendronach and Glenglassaugh distilleries, has had a stormy past with periods of time closed until it was rescued and reopened in 2004.

Since that year we have seen lots of different aged and finished Benriach whiskies, in particular the whisky we review today, Heredotus, is part of a series of 12 years old peated whiskies aged in different cask types: Importanticus Fumosus, Aromaticus Fumosus and Heredotus Fumosus.

Benriach Heredotus has been aged in PX casks for twelve years.

“Not bad although it is an style that I don't enjoy, peat and sherry. This one remembers me of my failed attempt of moscatel finished Laphroaig but correctly done”

89

Along with Importanticus Fumosus and Aromaticus Fumosus, this was part of a series of peated Benriachs finished in different wood types - in this case, Pedro Ximenez sherry casks have been used.

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. peat, honey, wood, citrus, raisins, cocoa.

Palate (89): powerful, oily. peat, honey, citrus, wood, cocoa, spices.

Finish (89): longer than average. peat, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Benriach 12 year Heredotus Fumosus with 89 points over 100.

Well, there are lots of people that love this style. For me, it remind me so much of this failed attempt to age whisky that I can not truly enjoy it… oh! How much I miss this Laphroaig…

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You can get some inspiration from here

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I am not a friend of finished whiskies nor a friend of Highlands whiskies. I dunno why but they don’t taste right for me. I think Highland whiskies ( like Tomatin, Glenglassaugh or Glenmorangie ) are usually too floral and dry for my taste. And usually when they finish it the result is a whisky that isn’t sherried enough to override the floral aroma ( that I suppose some of you may find lovely… Do you? ).

So I am reviewing today a Glencadam 14 years old finished in Oloroso sherry casks ( yes, the same casks that mature Glendronach Revival or Macallan Sienna ).

“Very nice finished whisky. It isn't an outstanding malt but it is a quite good one. Good work!”

88

70cl / 46% / Distillery Bottling - This 14yo Glencadam has been finished in sweet Oloroso sherry casks for a bit of extra depth and complexity. This distillery has been going great guns since its packaging relaunch in late 2008.

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (88): more than average. honey, nuts, citrus, floral, vanilla.

Palate (88): powerful, oily. honey, nuts, citrus, floral, spices, pepper, wood.

Finish (89): longer than average. nuts, honey, vanilla.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Glencadam 14 Year Old / Oloroso Sherry Finish Highland Whisky with 88 points over 100.

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Interesting whisky with a nice taste, but I really prefer truely sherried whiskies like this 32 years old Glencadam.

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Just next to the lost Brora distillery there is a copy of it named Clynelish that produces a similar malt whisky, or so they say. The true is that there is nothing like old Brora whiskies and Clynelish whiskies that I have tasted are nowhere near it.

This Clynelish that I review today is part of the Distillers Edition that Diageo releases annually from their distilleries stable ( You should really check their Lagavulin and Talisker, that’s true good stuff )

“Interesting whisky but it won't shake your world neither”

89

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (89): more than average. honey, citrus, spices, hazelnuts, floral.

Palate (89): powerful, oily. honey, nuts, wood, citrus, floral, vanilla.

Finish (89): longer than average. honey, wood, citrus.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Clynelish 1993 Oloroso Sherry - Distillers Edition with 89 points over 100.

I think you can buy better things with your money. But still it is a good whisky that is a bit short of being really great and enjoyable.

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Do you know the answer? Share this post, Like A Wardrobe of Whisky and email me the reply with subject #whiskyadvent to enter in the competition for a fabulous Whisky Advent Calendar ( only four days left ).

You can get some inspiration from here

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So finally the day has come, Sunday. And I am ready to announce the winner of the fabulous £100 whisky bottle.

During the last ten days, in Facebook, Google+ and email hundreds of friends have joined in this give-away and after getting more than seven hundred entries I have spent all the Sunday morning building the list of entries to randomly choose a winner.

So without more delays…

A Wardrobe of Whisky is proud to announce that the winner of the £100 whisky give away is…

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A Wardrobe of Whisky turns three years old somewhere between October and November so to celebrate such mythical age at which raw spirit turns into single malt whisky and teaming up with Master of Malt, we are giving away a fantastic Whisky Advent Calendar.

Behind each of the 24 windows lies a different 3cl sample dram of delicious whisky! As each calendar is the same you’ll be able to discuss the dram that’s revealed each day, whether it be a single malt Scotch whisky or some other treat from around the world, with other proud owners of one of the very best things ever.

So what you need to win this fantastic prize, it is quite simple:

1. Like A Wardrobe of Whisky on Facebook or Google+ ( or both for more chances )
2. Each day I will publish task. Share and accomplish it for get your daily chance. For example liking a photo or answering a whisky related question.
3. That’s all.

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I have had the pleasure of sharing another tweet tasting with Steve from The Whisky Wire ( you are missing great stuff if you don’t follow him on Twitter! ). So yesterday we did a new Milroys Tweet Tasting. Milroys of Soho is a great whisky shop located at Greek St. London just in the heart of the Soho.

Last year when I travelled to London for TWE Whisky Show 2012 ( this year show has been fantastic! ), I visited Milroys and get delighted by the huge amount of whiskies on stock there. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to taste anything and because I travelled with Ryanair I couldn’t get any bottle with me ( Damn you Ryanair! ) so when I tasted a few weeks later some of the whiskies I realized what mistake I did. Milroy’s of Soho bottles great whiskies with a price that is hard to believe nowadays.

So my expectations for this #MilroysTT2 were quite high because I was sure that whatever it was on the samples it would be a great night.

So let’s see the whiskies. As with other tweet tasting we tasted blind and after the tasting we were told what we have been drinking. It is really impressive that several people nailed the dram they were drinking.

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Ready to win a £100 bottle of delicious single malt whisky?! Today task gives you 10, yes ten entries for ten chances to win whisky.

You need to share this post and recommend four of your favorites or best whiskies using A Wardrobe of Whisky. The process is quite simple, just follow these steps.

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I have just received a sample of the new Scallywag from Douglas Laing. I really wanted to taste this new whisky since I listen about it at The Whisky Show because it was described as a whisky that it is to Speyside what Big Peat was for Islay.

If you know about malt whisky, you for sure know that Speyside is one of the areas of Scotland that concentrates most distilleries around the Spey river. Their single malts are usually sweet, floral with notes of honey and oranges, with some fantastic examples as The Macallan, Glendronach, The Glenrothes, Glenlivet… all “The” important stuff is there.

So Scallywag is a new blended malt whisky created by Douglas Laing using just single malt whiskies from the Speyside region to create this fantastic whisky. Douglas Laing remarks that they wanted to remark the sweet and orange zesty character of Speyside whiskies on this vatted malt. It is blended malt whisky with single malts aged in oloroso sherry butts and ex-bourbon cask. It sounds like tasting, so let’s drink it.

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