Let us introduce ....

For a while now, we have been having a dilemma at Whisky For Everyone.  We are in a position that many people would love to be in - we are sent samples of whisky in the post, invited to all manner of events around London and get the occasional visit to Scotch's heartland and the distilleries of Scotland. We have grown to be in this enviable position through four years of hard work. We still do not get paid for anything that we do with the blog and website - the samples and invites are our payment and perks.

In reality, we could be out and about almost every night of the week and let the world of whisky totally consume us.  However, in another version of reality we both have full-time day jobs and therefore are not in a position for our day-to-day lives to be ruled by the spirit that we love.  It has come to the time where we cannot devote as much time as we would like to Whisky For Everyone.

So this has led to frustration and where our dilemma comes in ... what can we do to carry on, evolve and bring the greater number of tasting notes, event reviews and snippets of news that we want to?  We have two options - struggle on and do what we do, or get some help!  We have chosen the second option ...

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we would like to introduce you to two new contributors that have agreed to write with us on Whisky For Everyone - Chris Maclean and Matt Tilbury.  Both have a wealth of whisky experience that they wish to convey and have taught us both a great deal about whisky in the time we have known them. Most importantly though, we consider both of them to be our good friends.  They will be writing features and tasting notes, plus attending events as and when they can.

A few people around the London scene may know Chris or Matt, but for those that don't we have put together a few lines of introduction about them. We hope that you welcome them too and enjoy their future work.

- Karen and Matt

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Chris Maclean

Chris is the store manager of the London branch of The Whisky Shop, the UK's largest specialist whisky retail chain.  He came to the world of whisky from the wine trade, having worked in numerous retail outlets and for producers in Australia, France and the USA.

Chris' perspective draws numerous parallels between the the world of wine and whisky, in particular the use of different casking and the factors that influence flavour.  He is inspired by the diversity in the range of whisky styles, enjoys educating others about the quality of products available and believes that whisky as a category is often misunderstood or poorly communicated.  Chris has written as a guest on Whisky For Everyone occasionally in the past and wishes to bring his increasing interest in cigar and whisky matching to a wider audience.  Therefore, expect to see more cigar reviews and cigar/whisky matching combination articles in the future.

Matt Tilbury

Matt is the store manager of the London branch of Royal Mile Whiskies and it is he, along with former manager Michael, that showed our Matt (boy, this is going to get confusing with all these Matts ...) the ropes when he was beginning in the whisky world.

Matt believes that whisky can be consumed and enjoyed by anyone and that everyone can learn and appreciate good whiskies.  He also believes that talking with whisky consumers on a daily basis in the shop gives him an insight in to the modern whisky drinker and current trends.  This passion extends to hosting tastings and a little bit of brand consultation work.  He has a growing interest and taste for bourbons, American whiskies and the micro-distillery movement that is booming in the USA, so don't be surprised to read about more of these products on Whisky For Everyone as we go forwards.

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