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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 The Macallan of A Wardrobe of Whisky blog.

You can read here older articles posted in A Wardrobe of Whisky since 2009.
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Better than sex: One year of whisky blogging!

By Miguel in News , Featured , The Macallan , Kilchoman , Highland Park

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good whiskey is barely enough.”

What the hell! No way. But it has been a quite interesting and fun year. It looks as it was yesterday but this blog has turned one year today.

Stripper cake

Only a year but it has been a great travel of personal discovery: whisky, history, facts, geography and friends.

Before I started blogging I was already collecting malt whiskies but I wasn’t really interested in how they tasted. One day I decided to open one miniature of Compass Box Spice Tree and I was impressed about how good it was. Then another, and another, and another. And just one day I decided to write tasting notes about what I was drinking. I could have do it the way other great whisky blogs does, but being myself engineer (Dilbert! You are not alone!) I preferred the hard way: write tasting notes so a computer can process them and do interesting things with it. Just a few months later I created whisky-o-matic, which is really fun if you haven’t tried yet!.

I have learnt lots of things about how whisky is made, how barley is grown, how water is chosen based in its characteristics. I have learnt a lot about ageing of whisky and how the wood influence the final result, with two bottles of a great Laphroaig 10 years old Cask Strength sacrificed in the altar of knowledge.

I still have to improve my world geography but now I know where Islay, Orkney, Kentucky and Hokkaido are situated.

And I have known great people related to whisky: from bloggers like Galg of WhiskyIsral, Steve of The Whisky Wire, Ruben of Whisky Notes, John Hansell of MaltWhisky Advocate, Billy Abbott of Billy’s Booze Blog, John Campbell of Laphroaig for their invitation to Laphroaig Live 2010, Richard Barr who shared with me a whole Whiskylive show. Special thanks for the chaps at Master of Malt for their support during this year.

Crying already? Feeling emotional?
Ok, so let’s get back to the crude bare numbers! :)

Naked Statistics

This year can be resumed in a few numbers and two or three great posts.

  • 1 year
  • 365 days
  • 1 whisky show ( hey! I have had to fight for that single one a lot! )
  • 619 bottles of whisky bought ( don’t panic! Most of them are samples! )
  • 372 tasting notes written.
  • 356 posts published.
  • 150K visits. ( and growing! )
  • Tasted Macallan 30 years old Fine Oak.
  • Bought a bottle of Highland Park Earl Haakon.
  • Drink Kilchoman Inagural Release.
  • A new son ordered.
  • Built a whisky library for reference.

Sensual promises for the future

Those are my promises for the future.

  • 2 whisky shows ( I must be at The Whisky Show 2012 and Maltstock 2012. At least! )
  • Less whisky bought. ( My wife is going to kill me. And the worst thing is that she may be right about it )
  • More tasting notes.
  • More and better articles about distilleries.
  • Better whisky-o-matic suggestions.
  • More friends, more social. ( Did you know you can submit your own tasting notes for whisky-o-matic now? )

Thank you all for this great year.

Yours sincerely,
Miguel


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Macallan 12 years old Sherry Oak Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , Recommended , The Macallan

“Stunning sherry monster! Lovely! From really good oloroso casks.”

89
Macallan 12 year Sherry Oak
Deliciously smooth, with rich dried fruits and sherry, balanced with wood smoke and spice. Described by Paul Pacult, the renowned international whisky writer, in his book Kindred Spirits as: "simply the best 12 Year Old single malt around".

This dram has a tawny-like color.

Nose (90): strong. sweet, peaches, oloroso, dates, dark chocolate, floral.

Palate (90): oily, powerful. sweet, honey, peaches, wood, vanilla, oloroso, nuts. A huge influence of the sherry cask. Rather good.

Finish (88): very long. floral, nuts, dark chocolate.

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

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WhiskyLive Madrid 2011 Tastings

By Miguel in Tasting , News , Featured , Destilerias Liber , Laphroaig , DYC , The Macallan , Compass Box , Suntory , Yamazaki , Edradour , Talisker

WhiskyLive Madrid 2011 celebrated at May, 26 on Hotel Villamagna, has been a great whisky show against all the odds: Great whisky, pretty girls, good friend. Whatelse?!

Touching a bottle of Macallan 25 years old at Macallan Masterclass in WhiskyLive MadridFinally I got time to write down the tasting notes and here they are. I am quite happy of the result. The whisky show has been great and I tried lots of expressions that it is not easy to taste here in Spain.

During the evening at WhiskyLive Madrid, that I spent with Richard Barr of WhiskyIsrael, we tasted more than twenty whiskies so bear with me if last tasting notes are not accurate.
If you haven’t read yet about our visit to WhiskyLive do it now!. We had a great evening together.

So here are the tasting notes. I am still missing some of them that I wasn’t able to properly write while on the show.

Read the full story »


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WhiskyLive Madrid 2011: A whisky show at Spain's heart

By Miguel in News , Featured , Destilerias Liber , Laphroaig , Lagavulin , DYC , Cardhu , St George , The Macallan , Compass Box , Glenfiddich , Highland Park , Bowmore , Suntory , Yamazaki , Redbreast , Edradour , Talisker

Taking place at the Madrid business center, at the Hotel Villamagna, this whisky fair, although small, has been really interesting with lots of surprises.

Hotel Villa Magna at Madrid

Before attending the show, I meet Richards Barr, a member of Whiskyisrael that was also attending the show and we went there together after having a tasty Spanish lunch.
Richard Barr and Miguel Angel Blanch after 25 drams of whisky at Whiskylive Madrid

Read the full story »


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Macallan 22 years old 1988 Signatory Cask Strength Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , The Macallan
92
Macallan 22 Year Old 1988 Cask 4952
22 year old Macallan matured in a hogshead. This was distilled on the 25th May 1988 and bottled on the 14th July 2010. A release of 275 bottles at cask strength.

This dram has a white-like color.

Nose (88): inexistent. sweet, honey, wood, a little raisins, dried fruits, spices, tobacco. First nosing data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Palate (96): . sweet, honey, citrus, floral, wood, nuts, spices. Bouquet data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Finish (92): no finish. sweet, wood, spices, nuts, honey. Finish length is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Macallan 22 Year Old 1988 Cask 4952 with 92 points over 100.

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Macallan 18 years old Fine Oak Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , The Macallan
91
Macallan 18 year Fine Oak
The Macallan Fine Oak is triple cask matured in a unique, complex combination of exceptional oak casks;

1. European oak casks seasoned with sherry impart a rich character with hints of dried fruits, spice and chocolate orange.

2. American oak casks seasoned with sherry deliver delicate hints of citrus lemon, coconut and toffee sweetness.

3. American oak casks seasoned with bourbon deliver floral aromas and sweet notes of vanilla and fresh fruits.

This triple cask combination delivers an extraordinarily smooth, delicate yet complex Single Malt matured at The Macallan distillery for a minimum of 18 years.

This dram has a white-like color.

Nose (92): inexistent. sweet, nuts, honey, wood, spices, a little oloroso. First nosing data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Palate (92): . sweet, honey, wood, oloroso, spices, smoke. Bouquet data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Finish (88): no finish. honey, wood, spices, smoke. Finish length is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Macallan 18 year Fine Oak with 91 points over 100.

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Macallan 18 years old 1991 Sherry Oak Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , The Macallan

“The Sherry Oak version has a deeper aroma with more wood and spices. Overall it is a better whisky than the Fine Oak 18 years old.”

93
Macallan 18 year Sherry Oak
A benchmark: not just for Macallan, but for aged whisky everywhere. Sets the standard for sherried Speysides to aspire to. 'Best Malt in the World': The Macallan 18 years old, Whisky Magazine, June 2004

This dram has a mahogany-like color.

Nose (94): more than average. sweet, honet, tobacco, spices, floral, citrus, oloroso.

Palate (92): powerful, oily. sweet, oloroso, tobacco, cocoa, wood, nuts, honey, floral, grass.

Finish (92): longer than average. floral, wood, citrus, spices, tobacco.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Macallan 18 year Sherry Oak with 93 points over 100.

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Macallan 10 years old Cask Strength Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , Recommended , The Macallan

“ An epical sherry monster: Macallan-zilla!. If you don’t like sherry don’t even move around this one. Awesome.”

93
Macallan 10 year Sherry Oak Cask Strength
The Macallan Sherry Oak is exclusively matured in selected sherry oak casks from Jerez, Spain instead of using different kind of casks as the Fine Oak range does.

This expression is matured for 10 years and then bottled at original cask strength without chill filtration or the addition of water. The result is a particularly rich Single Malt, best enjoyed with a splash of water to release the complex aromas and sumptuous flavours.

Even if the prices on the Internet are high this Macallan is worth every penny you pay for it.

This dram has a white-like color.

Nose (92): inexistent. sweet, nuts, honey, spices, oloroso. First nosing data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Palate (96): . sweet, hot, oloroso, honey, spices, wood, nuts. Bouquet data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Finish (92): no finish. nuts, honey, wood, spices. Finish length is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Macallan 10 year Sherry Oak Cask Strength with 93 points over 100.

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Macallan Fine Oak 10 years old Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , The Macallan
89
Macallan 10 year Fine Oak
Matured in Bourbon & Sherry Oak Casks. This range has been around for a few years now and seems to have weathered the storm it caused amongst the faithful when it was initially released. "The Fine Oak range is...more approachable, and has the potential to be embraced by a greater percentage of whisky drinkers....cutting back on the sherry reveals more of the Macallan spirit, which is first-class." John Hansell, Malt Advocate Magazine

This dram has a white-like color.

Nose (92): inexistent. sweet, honey, tobacco, spices, floral, citrus, smoke. First nosing data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Palate (92): . sweet, tobacco, sherry, honey, wood, spices, parma violets. Bouquet data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Finish (84): no finish. tobacco, honey, wood, spices. Finish length is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Macallan 10 year Fine Oak with 89 points over 100.

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Macallan 10 years old Sherry Oak Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , The Macallan
91
Macallan 10 year Sherry Oak
This Macallan 10 years old is matured exclusively in oak sherry casks from Spain to deliver a deep, rich, deliciously smooth and well-rounded flavour with a slight sweetness and touch of sherry and wood.

Its deep colour is achieved wholly naturally without the addition of any colouring.

This dram has a white-like color.

Nose (92): inexistent. sweet, tobacco, vanilla, dry fruits, nuts, spices, wood. First nosing data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Palate (92): . sweet, spices, wood, oloroso sherry, leather, nuts. Bouquet data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Finish (88): no finish. nuts, leather, wood. Finish length is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Macallan 10 year Sherry Oak with 91 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

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