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“Because you can't buy happiness... but you can buy whisky and that's pretty much the same thing”

Read stories about Glen Garioch of A Wardrobe of Whisky blog.

You can read here older articles posted in A Wardrobe of Whisky since 2009.
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Morrison Bowmore's new whiskies: Auchentoshan, Glen Garioch and Bowmore

By Miguel in Tasting , Bowmore , Glen Garioch , Auchentoshan

It is almost a month since Halloween, where I got the scariest of the surprises… my parcel with Bowmore Devil’s Cask sample got lost and I never got it… don’t cry yet! This is a happy end story :)

2014-12-07 10.52.14

So almost a month later a replacement appeared on my door and here I am, ready to taste three fantastic whiskies from Morrison Bowmore Distillers: An lowlander, a Highlander and an Islay beauty.

So let’s taste them and let’s discover if all the hype about Devil’s Cask is based on anything…

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MilroysTT2: Milroys of Soho Blind Whisky Tasting

By Miguel in Tasting , Zuidan , Glen Garioch , Glen Elgin , Milroys

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.

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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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Flaviar: Whisky Samples At Your Door

By Miguel in Tasting , Glenmorangie , Glengoyne , Old Pulteney , Dalmore , Glen Garioch

You know that much, if not all, of the whisky that I drink for A Wardrobe of Whisky comes from samples. You can’t imagine how hard is to get decent whiskies here in the south of Spain, well.. you can easily get great whiskies like Chivas Regal 12 years old or the all-mighty Johnnie Walker Black Label ( Oh God, Take my live! ). So as you can see most of my experience comes from samples which it is a great way of tasting new malts for a fraction of the price.

It is always good news to welcome a new samples bottler, Flaviar, on the arena. But what Flaviar does different from the rest of players?

flaviar-tasting-pack

Flaviar features a monthly subscription service where you get a pack of five samples with enough whisky for three persons to taste it. The idea of Flaviar is to be an exploration tool, helping beginners in discovering the world of spirits, while for the more experienced spirits lovers it’s a great way of discovering new drinks and keeping their spirit shelves updated without wrong purchases. If I had had such chance when I started drinking whisky… I have now a full wardrobe full of vile whiskies that I don’t dare drink ( yes, you know who am I talking about! )

As well as the pack of five 5ml samples you get also some “experts” insights as well as tasting instructions ( quite useful really for newcomers ) and fun trivia games. One thing quite fun is the fact that each pack is theme like “Schnaps of the Alps”, “There were pirates” or “Whisky’s Big in Japan” and they came in a precious little black box.
Each of the samples is labelled with the spirit inside and its strength ( note to Flaviar: Blind tastings are usually more fun, just an idea ).

flaviar-tasting-pack

My pack was called “Highlanders: There can be only one” and features five Highlands whiskies, some of them tasted some years ago in this blog. So let’s taste the whisky.

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Douglas Laing's Old Particular Single Casks Review

By Miguel in Tasting , Bowmore , Glen Garioch , Auchroisk

Barely three months ago, Douglas Laing & Co owners, Stewart and Fred Laing went their separate ways in commercial terms yesterday after running the company they inherited from their father more than 40 years ago.But a few days ago, Douglas Laing announced Old Particular Single Casks, which they claim to be their best ever single malt range, and if you trust me, I think it really is!.

Douglas Laing Old Particular Single Malt Single Cask Whiskies

So this new range launched in September, 2013, the Old Particular is a set of bottles each selected from a single cask and bottled according to Douglas Laing’s philosophy: bottlings from only one casks, without added coloring and without chill filtration. No nonsenses as they used to say.
Malts featured in this first batch of bottles include whiskies from Bowmore, Caperdonich and Port Ellen ( definitively I want to taste this one! ).

It is a interesting fact that the whiskies has three different bottling strenghts. Whiskies up to 18 years old are bottled at 48.4%, over 18 years old at 51.5% and some rarities ( jewels I would say ) are bottled at cask strength ( like the Bowmore I am going to taste right now ).

So let me introduce you the whiskies of today tasting.

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Whisky Tasting Session 2013-01

By Miguel in Tasting , Featured , Allt-a-Bhainne , Aberlour , Glen Garioch , Glenrothes , Glen Scotia

Hurray! New year, new blind tasting session.

As usual Jean-Marie Putz of Whisky-distilleries.info proposed six unnamed samples on a stunning box like previous tastings.

A blind tasting is a quite interesting experience because tasting whiskies in this way you really pay more attention to the whisky and less to the bottle. I have tasted whiskies that I have considered good but nothing special ( Is there such a thing as bad whisky?! ) and then I discovered that I were tasting a 39 years old single malt. Have I known before hand what I was tasting I am 100% sure it would have affected my rating.

So here are the drams…

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Whisky Tasting Sessions 2012-07

By Miguel in Featured , Ben Nevis , Glen Garioch , Glen Keith , Bladnoch , Aultmore , Glen Scotia

Almost finishing the year and we are already on the 7th tasting session.

Again six nameless whiskies presented in a stunning box, Jean Marie know how to do the job really.
Pretty bizarre distilleries on this set, but that’s the main reason I joined this tasting sessions; the chance of tasting new different stuff.

The samples

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TWE Whisky Show 2012: What I couldn't taste [Part 4]

By Miguel in Laphroaig , Cooley , Chivas , Johnnie Walker , The Macallan , Dewar , Penderyn , Bunnahabhain , Compass Box , Monkey Shoulder , Glenfiddich , The Balvenie , Kilchoman , Highland Park , Bowmore , Yoichi , Nikka , Suntory , Balblair , Redbreast , Glenfarclas , Connemara , Ichiro , Rosebank , Benriach , Glendronach , Old Pulteney , Dalmore , Glen Garioch , Big Peat , Glenglassaugh , Glenrothes , Maker's Mark , Hibiki , Four Roses , Glencadam , Wemyss , Douglas Laing

This post continue from TWE Whisky Show [Part 3]

The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show 2012 took place at October 6th and 7th and although it has been a great experience it has been a short one. With over 450 whiskies to taste and just barely six hours ahead it was impossible to taste them all.

What I couldn’t taste

This post is just a set of photos of what I couldn’t taste. Sorry, people… I can write about this because I get sad… so great stuff that I had to skip… *sniff*

I visited Compass Box stand for saying hi to Chris and I take a few photos with the people on the show.

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Glen Garioch 1971 bottled for The Whisky Exchange Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , Glen Garioch

“Incrediblely old whisky with a great nose. Like nosing an old wood wardrobe full of flowers. Very good whisky.”

92
Glen Garioch 1971 for TWE
A beautiful 40 year old vintage Glen Garioch, bottled by the folks at Morrison Bowmore for The Whisky Exchange and released at The Whisky Show in 2011. 1971 Glen Garioch is known for being more peaty than usual, and this delicate, restrained old school dram has a lovely thread of smoke, plus tropical fruit and medicine cabinet aromas. Fabulous.

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (93): more than average. honey, peat, floral, wood, spices, vanilla.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. candies, wood, honey, floral, citrus, spices, black pepper.

Finish (91): longer than average. smoke, floral, pepper, pears.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Glen Garioch 1971 for TWE with 92 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

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Glen Garioch 15 years old 1991 Old Malt Cask

By Miguel in Tasting , Glen Garioch
88
Glen Garioch 15 year 1991 Old Malt Cask
This was distilled at the Glen Garioch distillery in November 1991 before a 15 year sting in refill hogshead number 3061 before bottling in November 2006. A release of 241 bottles from the Old Malt Cask range.

This dram has a white wine-like color.

Nose (87): strong. floral, citrus, honey, apples, wood, cinnamon.

Palate (89): smooth, oily, powerful. honey, floral, citrus, wood, malt, spices.

Finish (88): long. honey, floral, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Glen Garioch 15 year 1991 Old Malt Cask with 88 points over 100.

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