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About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

Kicking off 2016 in Ayrshire – Tasting the Rarest Distilleries

By Michael Bendavid | January 1, 2016

Kicking off 2016 in Ayrshire – Tasting the Rarest Distilleries

I chose not to do a recap on 2015. Choosing my top ten drams wouldn’t do justice to the other fabulous whiskies I tasted, and wouldn’t really reflect the whisky year I’ve had. I didn’t recap the year the blog had, but you can see the 10 most popular posts here on the right. I’ll also…

Ailsa Bay, Girvan, Independent Bottling, Ladyburn, Malts of Scotland, Scotch Single Malt, Signatory VintageAilsa Bay , Closed Distilleries , Ladyburn , Linger , Lowlands , Nose , Palate , Scotch Whisky , Sherry , Tasting Note , Tasting Notes , Whiskey , Whisky , Whisky Blog , Whisky Guide , Whisky Tasting Notes

A 25 Year Old Grain From the Distillery Built by Television

By Michael Bendavid | August 24, 2015

A 25 Year Old Grain From the Distillery Built by Television

Built by television? Well, yes…In 1955 Britain entered the television age, and with it, came TV advertising. Only there were no advertisements for Scotch whisky. The reason is the DCL, which pretty much dominated the industry, and it did not want to get into advertising in this new media. Basically, they took the view that…

Girvan, Scotch Single MaltDouglas Laing , Girvan , Grain Whisky , Grant's , Independent Bottlers , Linger , Nose , Palate , Scotch Whisky , Single Cask , Tasting Note , Tasting Notes , Whiskey , Whisky , Whisky Blog , Whisky Guide , Whisky Tasting Notes