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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 Ardbeg of A Wardrobe of Whisky blog.

You can read here older articles posted in A Wardrobe of Whisky since 2009.
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The Balkan Tiger and the Ardbeg's whispers

By Miguel in Uncategorized , Tasting , Ardbeg , Bunnahabhain , Compass Box , Wemyss

Welcome to a new session of my random blind tastings! This one is WTF Tasting 003.

If you recall previous sessions, one of my biggest “problems” with whisky tasting was to make my mind to choose a set of drams to taste. I love peated whiskies and mid age sherried drams but once you start tasting one after the other it becomes a bit plain ( with great surprises from time to time )… so why not just add some spices into the mix?

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WTF Whisky Tastings is just a new fun way of lowering my samples’ box level with a flight of four and five random drams taking blindly from the box.

So here are this week flight…

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Why I hate Johnnie Walker

By Miguel in Featured , Ardbeg , Johnnie Walker , The Macallan , Whisky

Well, hate is a too strong word, so maybe dislike may be better. Umm!… no, hate is fine, pure distilled clear hate. But anyway, let me explain it to you…

200L20L

As you know I am from Spain, a country that in less than forty years moved from very poor to reasonably rich ( and it looks like back at fullspeed to poor again ) place. So, as in most in-development countries we had an special interest in those kind of luxury products that come from abroad, for example, Rolex watches, Mercedes Benz cars and Scotch whisky.

Fusion TIFF File

So imagine, a country where monthly income moved from £150 to £1500 in less than twenty years… so we were a nice market niche for Scotch Whisky industry, despite the fact that Spanish biggest selling whisky is DYC. So we were invaded with hordes of best whiskies Scotland could produce; Johnnie Walker Red Label, Ballantines, J&B, Cutty Sark, Dewars White Label,… you get an idea of the situation, don’t you?

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How to make whisky matured cheese

By Miguel in Ardbeg , Whisky , Cooking

I am not sure if you have tasted this Islay Whisky matured cheese.

It is a mature cheddar cheese with a delicious taste of whisky. It is expensive but it really worths the money. So far so happy.
The problem arised when my supermarket decided they were not going to stock it anymore (Why?! You have sold it out! Go buy more!). So after a few weeks of investigation and trials and error I got the correct way of doing it myself at home.

So keep reading with me for this unfathomable resource of pleasure.

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Ardbeg Galileo: stratospheric Islay whisky

By Miguel in Tasting , Ardbeg

“Very nice. Think of Ardbeg 10 years old at cask strength with a fruity twist”

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Ardbeg Galileo
In April 2012 Ardbeg sent some of their new-make spirit up into space to make Ardbeg the first inter-stellar whisky, so it came as little surprise that in September 2012, at the British Space Centre, the Ardbeg Galileo was launched.

It's a pretty damn good, unlike recent Ardbegs the Galileo features an age statement (1999-2012) and contains whisky matured in both ex-Marsala and ex-Bourbon barrels.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (91): more than average. peat, honey, citrus, fruits. Very Ardbeg nose

Palate (91): powerful, oily. peat, honey, citrus, spices, earth, fruity, pastry.

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

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Ardbeg Galileo with 91 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

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That Boutique-y Whiskies: Not only the labels are great

By Miguel in Tasting , Featured , Ardbeg , The Macallan , Aberlour , Master of Malt , Benriach , Caperdonich , Aultmore , Benrinnes

Master of Malt sent me some samples of their new range That Boutique-y and as I happen to have some samples too myself I decided to do a super tasting of this new ramge of whiskies!.
that-boutique-y-batch-1-whiskies

First thing that grab your eye on these whiskies is the precious labels they have created for each of them. And also the fact that the whiskies are bottled at cask strength. Looks like most of them are a vatting of several casks and there is no age statement in any of them but if they are as good as this first batch… :)

That Boutique-y Whisky Company

That Boutique-y Whisky Company bottles Scotch Single Malt Whiskies from a variety of renowned distilleries like Ardbeg, Macallan or Aberlour in limited batches. These whiskies are adorned with cultish comic-book style labels which feature prominent figures from the whisky industry upon them, as well as other little details for you to find!

The whiskies Batch 1

I have tasted several whiskies from the first batch and most of them are already sold out by the time you read this. On their webpage it is available right now a second batch of whiskies.

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TWE Whisky Show 2012 [Part 3]

By Miguel in Tasting , Ardbeg , Bunnahabhain

This post continue from TWE Whisky Show [Part 2]

After almost six hours I have tasted 43 single malt whiskies, some of them transcendentally amazing. Now I had an extra chance of tasting something that I missed on TWE Whisky Show.

Extra day: The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show Trade day

Ok, just waked up for The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show Trade Day [wooa!, that’s long]. I have another nice and expensive breakfast for another whisky day that unfortunately I will not be able to enjoy fully as I have a plane to catch.

the-whisky-exchange-whisky-shop-2012-london

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The Peat Paradise: Islay from Bunnahabhain to Port Ellen

By Miguel in Tasting , Recommended , Featured , Laphroaig , Caol Ila , Lagavulin , Port Ellen , Ardbeg , Bunnahabhain , Kilchoman , Bowmore , Bruichladdich

Islay is an island in the west of Scotland that produce a style of single malts that you either love or hate: peated whiskies.

Gregor Haslinger Islay photo
(Photo on top of one of the Jura Pups looking south overseeing the Isle of Islay by Gregor Haslinger)

You may wonder why such an small island have so many distilleries and I hope this article enlighten you and share with us the passion for peated whiskies.
I have tasted already many of the whiskies created at Islay but I really wanted to taste them all in a row so I can compare them side by side. I hate when I taste blindly a whisky and I can’t decide if it is a Caol Ila ( most are ) or an Ardbeg.

So come with me in this trip around Islay in nine drams. Oh man! I am sure you can smell the smoke from there.

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Ardbeg 18 years old 1993 Mission by Murray McDavid Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , Ardbeg

“Oh my! Such peat explosion! A great Ardbeg that is even better than some of the distillery cask strength expressions.”

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Ardbeg 18 Year Old 1993 - Mission (Murray McDavid)
A 1993 vintage from Ardbeg bottled as part of Murray McDavid's Mission series, collecting together some of the rarer and more interesting casks that they have hiding in their warehouse.

This Ardbeg single malt whisky was matured for 18 years in a bourbon cask selected by Jim McEwan before bottling in 2011 at Bruichladdich.

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (93): more than average. peat, honey, citrus, some vanilla, spices, sea.

Palate (93): smooth, powerful, oily. peat, honey, wood, spices, vanilla, earth, salt.

Finish (91): longer than average. peat, honey, citrus, earth.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Ardbeg 18 Year Old 1993 - Mission (Murray McDavid) with 92 points over 100.

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Ardbeg 17 years old 1994 Mission by Murray McDavid Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , Ardbeg

“Sublime nose! Greatly well aged Ardbeg whisky with all its peat muscle still there.”

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Ardbeg 17 Year Old 1994 - Mission (Murray McDavid)
A 1994 vintage from Ardbeg bottled as part of Murray McDavid's Mission series, collecting together some of the rarer and more interesting casks that they have hiding in their warehouse.

This Ardbeg single malt whisky was matured for 17 years in a bourbon cask before bottling in 2011 at Bruichladdich.

This dram has a white wine-like color.

Nose (93): more than average. peat, honey, earth, citrus, vanilla, iodine, coffee. Sublime! Most delicate peat punch with the sweetest honey.

Palate (92): smooth, powerful, oily. peat, honey, citrus, floral, earth, cocoa.

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

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Ardbeg 17 Year Old 1994 - Mission (Murray McDavid) with 92 points over 100.

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