The malts of Speyside are the raw material for the Scottish malt whisky,  the most desirable of the world. This malt is distillated in Cairngorms, the area next to the Spey river in Moray and Aviemore Cairngorms, in the north of Scotland. The two most sold whiskies of the world come from Speyside and that tells a lot about the quality of the malts and their distillation process. The region with the biggest number of distilleries of any whisky producing area is Scotland. 

Today we will visit some of the whisky distilleries that you have to see when visiting Scotland. Scotland, apart from beatiful landscape and coasts, counts on one of the biggest and most popular whiskey productions and exportations which generate an income of 800 million euros. It is one of the most popular products of this land and the touristic visits to its distilleries are one of the attractions you cannot miss.

The Iberian Peninsula gives us endless possibilities to pair its culinary offerings with its excellent wines. I am a fan of most of them both and so in the following lines we will do a review mini pairing guide style going through 5 denominations of origin from the peninsula with their best culinary combinations.

We will start by DOCa Rioja. My proposal is Azpilicueta red wine and potatoes with chorizo stew. Chilies cannot be missed for this combination which for me is irresistible even during the summer. The Azpilicueta is a typical Rioja wine and gives the aroma and exact sweetness to the strong flavors of such a delicious and easy dish with which we match it here today.

The Garnacha Blanca wine is a mediterranean variety that derives from a mutation of the Garnacha Noir. From the 40.000 hectars that exist in the world, 25.000 are located in the spanish Mediterranean, between Navarra, Rioja, Aragon and Catalonia.

 The area that developped and protected the White Garnacha the most, is without any doubt the region of Terra Alta. In this region they identified and promoted the white wines of the Ribera d'Ebre of Tarragona, respecting and elaborating that variety.

We cannot leave home without a coat and this does not look like it will improve for another few months. We have to prepare ourselves for the cold and what it is best for that is to gather some good wines to warm us from the inside. Needless to say that it is much better to buy them online, because then we avoid the fight against the elements while we save some time we can dedicate to other issues...

Today I will recommend 5 red wines that seem ideal for those nice afternoons and long dinners that are the best thing about winter. I'll start with one that I love, and everyone who has tried it at my house also liked: Absum Varietales 2008.

Who do you love more, your mom or dad? Would you rather blend or varietal? Come on, there are things you do not ask, mostly because there is no need to choose. Let's see, you cannot have everything in life and that is why we know that in one bottle we cannot have both the varietal and the blend, but who says we cannot have a bottle of each?

Now that we have established the principles of our theory (I'm sure that until now almost we all agree) we will deepen, but not too much.