Read stories about Tasting of A Wardrobe of Whisky blog.

A few weeks ago I got a sample of Rock Oyster from Douglas Laing. I am a huge fan of their whiskies because they are a fair and good bang for the buck dram… so this one looked so promising… I had to taste it. So here is the review.

“Lovely character. Delicious layers of peat, spices and toffee assault you with each sip. Imagine a sweet peated Talisker”

90

Joining Douglas Laing's range of blended malts in early 2015, Rock Oyster is a magnificent maritime marvel made with single malts distilled on Scottish islands including Orkney, Jura, Arran and Islay.

This dram has a white wine-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. honey, peat, toffee, vanilla, salt, flowers.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. peat, honey, salt, vanilla, pepper, citrus.

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

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Rock Oyster Blended Malt with 90 points over 100.

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Save money when you buy Blended Malt Whisky online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on Master of Malt for £36.73
• Buy on The Whisky Exchange for £36.85

I still haven’t been disappointed by any of their whisky and this is yet another fantastic dram. Only for the peat heads of the house by the way :)

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Another dram of Maverick’s Whisky Advent Calendar, this time a Dalmore 15 years old. A distillery famous because of their world-renowned Consternation Collections: yet another expensive collection of whiskies.

I have to say that I like the style of the Dalmore distillery but I really dislike their approach to whisky drinkers: making good stuff expensive and watering down the average stuff… #ripoff

Anyway, let’s review it

“Excellent nose and a quite solid sherried whisky but I think it has more water than it should”

89

The new flagship expression from Dalmore that after fifteen years achieve the perfect balance on the combination of citrus orange, aromatic spices, nuttiness and dried fruits from European oak sherry casks.

But not just any sherry casks, but those that have been used to create some of the worlds most premium fortified wines - Amoroso, Apostoles and Matusalem sherries from Gonzalez - Byass, Spain.

Lovely Dalmore Single Malt whisky. If you like it, you should give a try to some of the Macallan whiskies like this 10 years old Sherry Oak.

This dram has a tawny-like color.

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

Palate (89): powerful, oily. honey, citrus, nuts, spices, vanilla, wood, cinnamon, cocoa.

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

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Dalmore 15 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky with 89 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

Save money when you buy Single Malt Whisky online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on The Whisky Exchange for £52.45
• Buy on Master of Malt for £55.33
• Buy on The Drink Shop for £57.11

It is a quite good whisky but I have the feeling that this was truly fantastic and it was watered down to make the expensive stuff looks better…

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I should have posted all this stuff before Christmas because it was part of the Maverick’s Advent Calendar, but… I just drank the stuff… and wrote the tasting notes… and forget about it. Now that I have completely tasted them all I have to say that it has been a fantastic experience to discover new whiskies and to revisit old classics… like this Glenfarclas 10yo.

“A delicious nose that suffers because of a watered down experience... This stuff bottled at 46% should be glorious!”

88

Once upon a time, there was a whisky distillery in the Speyside managed by the same family for generations. And still is, Glenfarclas is one of the last family distilleries out there, in a world of shark-like giant enterprises.

This Glenfarclas 10 years old is a straw-gold , delicately light, sweet and malty dram leaving a long slightly spicy finish. Always impeccably well-made, this is a whisky that always delivers in quality.

If you like the Macallan, this single malt is something you shouldn't miss at all.

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. honey, sherry, spices, citrus, cinnamon, wood, nuts, tobacco, flowers.

Palate (87): light, smooth. honey, citrus, wood, spices, cinnamon, nuts, leather.

Finish (87): no finish. honey, citrus, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Glenfarclas 10 year with 88 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

Save money when you buy Single Malt Whisky online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on The Drink Shop for £34.30
• Buy on Master of Malt for £34.33
• Buy on The Whisky Exchange for £34.45

I really love this way of tasting whisky because you are “forced” to taste whiskies that you won’t be tasting on your own… I really prefer to drink a Glenfarclas 25 years old than the 10 years old… so I ended up never revisiting the low part of the range :)

You can still order your own Maverick’s #whiskyadvent calendar at Master of Malt.

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Wooha! Just in time for Christmas! I got these fantastic Drinks Crackers from Maverick Drinks and I have been saving them for my after-dinner enjoyment when I realized about how selfish it would be not to share it with you all.

So here it is…

The drams are inside the crackers, and I have to say that it is the first time I see one. They are not so typical here in Spain, so I opened mine by breaking the paper on the middle of the roll and my kid just found out how it worked while pulling it from both sides :)

So these are the drams…

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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 :)

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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Day 5 of Maverick Drinks’ Whisky Advent Calendar. An old time favorite: the Bowmore 12 years old. This is one of the first whiskies that I tasted and I am really kind of its peatiness… until I tasted an Ardbeg. Most connoisseurs rule out this dram because… not sure… maybe because it is affordable and decent? I would really give it a try if you like peated whiskies.

“Nice dram ( and consistent ) but it miss that crazy little bit that turns good whisky into fantastic drams. If you want subtle peat punch, then this Bowmore is your dram”

89

Established in 1779, Bowmore Distillery is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland and nestles on the shores of Loch Indaal on the Inner Hebridean Isle of Islay.

Bowmore is universally regarded as the best balanced of all the Islay malts, as characterised by its wonderfully rich and complex flavors.

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (89): more than average. peat, honey, citrus, salt, vanilla, spices, earth.

Palate (89): powerful, oily. honey, peat, citrus, salt, wood, vanilla, earth.

Finish (89): longer than average. honey, peat, spices.

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

Buy this bottle at

Save money when you buy Single Malt Whisky online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on Drink Supermarket for £34.99
• Buy on Master of Malt for £38.33
• Buy on The Whisky Exchange for £38.45
• Buy on The Drink Shop for £38.60

You can order your own #whiskyadvent calendar at Master of Malt. Hurry up! Or you will have to drink it all on the same day :)

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Day 4 of Maverick Drinks’ Whisky Advent Calendar. A quite special Jura. This Jura 16 years old is a fantastic experience. The first time I tasted it I really disliked it but someone told me that I was wrong that it was a good whisky, so I ordered a sample from Master of Malt and gave it a new try, and found a completely different whisky. The closest thing to a Macallan that you can get from outside the Highlands.

“I have an old bottle of the Jura 16 years old and it is way better than this, pretty big changes between batches. It still have that lovely tobacco leaves aroma that only old Macallan used to have”

89

'With the smoothness of the 10 year-old allied to extra complexity from more ageing, this is a winner. 'A delicious and sophisticated dram with impressive depth and almost perfect weight.' Jim Murray

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (88): more than average. honey, citrus, sherry, chocolate, raisins, spices.

Palate (89): powerful, oily. honey, tobacco, vanilla, citrus, spices, chocolate, rubber.

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

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Isle of Jura 16 year with 89 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

Save money when you buy Single Malt Whisky online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on Master of Malt for £48.34
• Buy on The Whisky Exchange for £48.45
• Buy on The Drink Shop for £49.90

You can order your own #whiskyadvent calendar at Master of Malt. Hurry up! Or you will have to drink it all on the same day :)

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Day 3 of Maverick Drinks’ Whisky Advent Calendar. A fantastic single barrel bourbon.

“Cracking! Do you like rye whiskey? You will love this Evan Williams”

90

Evan Williams 2003 Single Barrel Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. Single barrel #156 bottled February 2013. Distilled at Heaven Hill Distillery, USA.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (91): more than average. corn, dust, honey, spices, vanilla, candies. Smells much like Rye whiskey

Palate (90): powerful, oily. honey, spices, corn, pepper, flowers, vanilla, candies, wood.

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

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Heaven Hill Evan Williams 2003 Single Barrel with 90 points over 100.

You can order your own #whiskyadvent calendar at Master of Malt. Hurry up! Or you will have to drink it all on the same day :)

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One of my favorites stops at the The Whisky Show in London is the Number One stand with their fantastic Karuizawa ( don’t give them a try, it is bad stuff, forget about what I have written. Pesky whisky! ) and Compass Box stand with their whiskies…

I am realizing that they are quite opposite style, one is about a dismantled distillery’s single casks monsters and the other is about good whisky for everyone. I have tasted now a few Compass Box whiskies over the years and I am not going to see all of them are fantastic but definitively none of them dissappoint!

Today I review two of their new additions to the range: Great king St. Glasgow Blend and The Lost Blend. Remember that as always I do taste the whisky blind, and later I read all the PR stuff to write these awesome articles like this one :D

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Day 2 of Maverick Drinks’ Whisky Advent Calendar. It is fun because this next Monday I will do a Twitter Tasting about exactly this whiskey…

“Irish. It is nice but I prefer less light and fresh whiskies. If you are a fan of Jameson, this whiskey will nail it!”

87

Since the Teelings parted company with Cooley, the company they started, we've been waiting for their return and here it is - Teeling Whiskey. Finished in rum casks and bottled at 46% without chill-filtration it's an excellent statement of intent. The blend is said to contain a high proportion of first fill bourbon casked whiskey, and a higher-than-normal ratio of malt to grain.

This dram has a gold-like color.

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

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

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

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Teeling Small Batch Whiskey / The Spirit of Dublin with 87 points over 100.

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Save money when you buy Irish Whiskey online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on Master of Malt for £33.61
• Buy on The Whisky Exchange for £33.95

You can order your own #whiskyadvent calendar at Master of Malt. Hurry up! Or you will have to drink it all on the same day :)

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