How Did You Get In To Whisky?

* This article originally appeared on the Huffington Post UK on 19/4/17.

What turned you on to whisky? Was there one experience or a particular whisky you tried that got you hooked? What made the biggest first impression on you? How did you get in to whisky? These are questions that I get asked on a regular basis.

Getting started in the whisky world can be a daunting experience. I found it that way to begin with. There are lots of things that you hear or read that could be true, but you just do not know. These include numerous well-known stereotypes and opinions – Should I add water to my whisky? How about ice? Is single malt better than blended whisky? And so on.

Whisky For Everyone @ The Whisky Lounge, London

The Whisky Lounge, one of the UK's best consumer whisky shows, is swinging in to London town on the weekend of Saturday and Sunday the 18th and 19th of May.  Are you going?  If not then, you should grab a ticket if you like whisky or are getting in to the subject and live in or around the capital.  Last year, three quarters of those attending the London show had never been to a whisky show and 99% said they would go to another one.

This gave us an idea and we are delighted to now be able to bring this idea to you.  We have teamed up with the guys at The Whisky Lounge to offer guided tours of the festival.  Matt C and Karen, Whisky For Everyone's founders, will be on hand to give tours around the festival at regular intervals throughout both Saturday sessions.  These will be FREE and able to be booked at the front desk on the day when you arrive at the show - spaces will be filled on a first come, first served basis.

Inbox - March 2, 2012

Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Within Inbox we write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information.

AnCnoc - New Vintage released
Inver House Distillers, the owners of AnCnoc, have announced the release of the latest in their increasing line of Vintage expressions.  This one was distilled in 1998 and has been matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.  There are to be just 5,100 bottles and the whisky is being released at 46% ABV.  It will appear in March in selected markets - France, Germany, Japan, Russia and the UK. As yet, no pricing information is available.

Ballantine's - Four new whiskies
The popular range of blended Scotch whiskies have announced four new expressions to be sold through the travel retail sector. These whiskies form the new Signature Distillery Editions. The first is 17 years old and based around the Glenburgie distillery, which is regarded as 'the heart of the Ballantine's blend'. The other three will see a staggered release over the next three years. They will be of the same age and based around the Scapa, Miltonduff and Glentauchers distilleries.

The Glenburgie edition will be placed in European and Asian travel retail and has been specially created by Ballantine's Master Blender Sandy Hyslop. Sandy says of the release,  “Glenburgie has played a central role for many generations of Ballantine’s Master Blenders. This stunning limited edition offers the whisky drinker a unique insight to the role that Glenburgie malt plays in the original and much-celebrated Ballantine’s 17yo blend".

Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society - Now in business
The JSMWS (let's call it that for short!) is a new membership club that has been formed by our good friends Josh Hatton and Jason Johnstone-Yellin.  It has grown from Josh's popular JSMWS blog and is now dedicated to sourcing and bottling some of the finest single malt Scotch whiskies that they can, while remaining faithful to the needs of the religion.

The Society has three tiers of membership priced at $180, $480 and $960 - these prices cover a year of membership, with a proposed $36 per year renewal fee after that.  For details of what you get within each price bracket and for further information about the Society, please visit www.jsmws.com. having spoken to Jason recently, he pointed out that you do not have to be Jewish to sign up because it's all about the whisky - "whisky first, Jewish second ..." as he put it.

The W Club goes live

This week, a new venture has been launched by The Whisky Shop - the UK's largest specialist whisky retail chain. The W Club is a private membership club which offers plenty for the whisky consumer and fan. There is a new website and blog, which are being edited by whisky journalist Dominic Roskrow, in addition to a permanent 10% discount on all products that The Whisky Shop stock (this discount applies in any of the chain's 18 UK stores and through their website).

Other membership benefits include access to limited edition and exclusive bottlings, entry in to 'money can't buy' competitions, special tasting events and distillery tours.  Membership costs just £12.50 a year or £25 a year for a special membership welcome pack. To complete your membership, please go to www.thewclub.co.uk.  If you don't wish to join, then you can still see various parts of the site, which is packed with new information.

The Whisky Lounge - Fest! returns to London
The popular whisky show has announced its return to London after a year off. The Lounge's co-founders, husband and wife team Eddie and Amanda Ludlow, are hosting the London 2012 show at The Royal Horticultural Halls on Saturday 21 April.  Previous shows around the UK have been given much praise and press as Eddie and Amanda try to present whisky to beginners and connoisseurs alike, but in a relaxed, informal way - their tag line of 'Bringing whisky to the people' says it all really.

The London show includes over 30 stands, tutored tasting sessions, food and whisky matching demonstrations and a 'live blogging area'.  There are two sessions - 11am to 3pm and then 4pm to 8pm - and tickets are £40 each per session.  To book your tickets for the Fest! - please visit www.thewhiskylounge.com and follow the links to the London event. We hope to see you there ...

The Whisky Lounge, Manchester - October 2011

The Whisky Lounge is a company that brings the world of whisky to the masses.  The company is founder by former Glenmorangie UK Brand Ambassador Eddie Ludlow and is multi faceted.  Eddie operates both corporate and consumer whisky tasting events, plus offers a consultation and training service for bars, companies and whisky brands.  Perhaps the most well known facet of the company to the wider audience are The Whisky Lounge Whisky Festivals - a series of shows that travel around the UK and that are aimed at attracting a new crowd to the genre of single malts and blended whiskies.

As Eddie puts it, "The Whisky Lounge is dedicated to the evangelism and enjoyment of whisky. Our aim is to preach the whisky word as far and wide as possible; making new friends, whilst giving people who are already converted a place to feel at home".

It was one of these shows that Eddie invited us to last weekend. The 2011 version of The Whisky Lounge's UK tour has taken in places such as Newcastle, Brighton, Liverpool and York to date, and last weekend was the turn of Manchester.  The event was held in the central location at the Lowry Hotel, which overlooks one of city's old canals.  Having only ever been to whisky shows in London, we were interested to see how the experience was going to be different, if at all.  The show was split in to two sections (11am-3pm and then 4pm-8pm) and after an early morning train journey from London, some retail therapy for Karen and some essential lunch, we headed for the show.

The line up of the festival mixed big whisky names such as Glenfiddich and Glenlivet with small, independent distilleries like Kilchoman and Arran, plus the independent bottling companies of Berry Bothers & Rudd and Gordon & MacPhail.  It also ran a series of 'master classes' throughout the day and these covered a variety of subjects, with the emphasis on the whisky beginner.

The show gave us a chance to chat with some of our best 'whisky friends' that we have met in the three years that we have been writing Whisky For Everyone - Eddie himself, Lukasz Dynowiak of the Edinburgh Whisky blog who was working on the Inver House stand, Ronnie Routledge from the Glenglassaugh distillery, Colin Dunn of Diageo, Chris Maybin of Compass Box and Michael Morris from Cooley.  We thank them all for their time, their continued support for what we are trying to do and for the drams given on the day!

However, the highlight had to be meeting up with Ian Chang, the Master Distiller at the Taiwanese distillery of Kavalan (pictured, left).  Ian has always been very supportive of us and of Whisky For Everyone since our first meeting with him about two years ago.  This includes allowing us to become the first whisky bloggers in the world to write about his products and sending us samples of his ground breaking new whiskies as they are released.

We cannot thank him enough for this and were delighted when he extended a personal invite to us to attend his Kavalan 'master class' at the show.  Within the 'master class' the group sampled four expressions of Kavalan and were taken through the production processes, casking strategy and key differences between his whisky and Scotch.  Ian's presentation, which was designed to introduce the brand to beginners, was also filled with numerous interesting facts.  Our favourite one was that Kavalan gets one million visitors a year - this is 10 times as many as the most popular Scottish distillery (Glenfiddich)!

Kavalan whiskies have won many plaudits in its short life time and is currently only available in China, Taiwan and selected south east Asian cities.  But plans are afoot to distribute the brand in the UK and selected European markets, hence this first ever appearance at a European whisky festival.  We were also delighted to meet and speak at length to Ian's assistant Joanie Tseng and Dr. Jim Swan, the consultant who has helped Kavalan with their whisky production and selection of casks.

Overall, the show was very well organised and we enjoyed our time very much.  Nearly 1,000 people came through the doors - the first 11am-3pm session seemed especially chilled out and the opportunity to speak at length with those on the stands was better than during the second session, which seemed much busier but still maintained a more relaxed feel than most London whisky shows.  Our hats go off to Eddie and his team who pulled off a successful event and must have introduced many new whisky brands to the festival goers.  Everyone we saw or spoke had enjoyed it greatly.

Inbox > October 7, 2011

Welcome to Inbox - our weekly round up of whisky news and PR type material that has recently found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we will write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information if you want to. It's been a busy one this week, so here goes.

Chichibu > The First bottling

The first of many?

Japan’s youngest distillery has released its first single malt – The First. Chichibu started production in 2008 and was the first new distillery to be built in Japan since the 1970s. This three years old whisky follows on from occasional releases of new make spirit. The First is constructed from just 31 ex-bourbon casks, which have yielded 7,400 bottles at a cask strength of 61.8% ABV. These will be sold through selected specialist whisky retailers in Japan, the UK and France for £90/€115. The product was launched at Whisky Live, Paris a couple of weeks ago and will be launched in Japan on 10 October.

Dalmore > New visitor centre opens

The impressive tasting room

The iconic distillery in the north Highlands, which is owned by Whyte & Mackay, has opened its new visitor centre. The Dalmore Visitor Experience is a £1million investment that gives whisky fans a different type of distillery tour. It was opened by Distillery Manager Ian Mackay and Master Blender Richard Paterson. The Experience takes guests on a sensory journey - they can embrace the unique atmosphere, sounds and smells of Dalmore and will be able to smell the spirit, hear the sound of the grain being milled etc. There are numerous bespoke features and furniture, plus special lighting to change mood and atmosphere. Tours can be booked for 11am, 1pm and 3pm and can be made in advance online at www.thedalmore.com.

Glendronach > Add to core range 

Going for gold

The independently owned Aberdeenshire distillery of Glendronach has announced an addition to its award winning core range – a new 21 years old. Named ‘Parliament’, which refers to a parliament of rooks that have lived at the distillery for over 100 years (who knew that the collective name for a group of rooks was a parliament?), this single malt whisky is bottled at 48% ABV and has been matured in a combination of ex-Oloroso and ex-Pedro Ximinez sherry casks. It joins the 12, 15, 18 and 31 year olds in the core range. Sales Director Alistair Walker said, “The Parliament was released after listening to our customers, who identified the opportunity for a premium Glendronach positioned somewhere between our 18 year-old and our iconic 31-year old. It’s a major release for the distillery”.

Glenglassaugh > First cask comes of age

Cask no.1

The Glenglassaugh distillery, which sits on the north east Highland coast, has announced the first single malt bottling of whisky made by the new ownership. Previous releases have been from stock inherited from the former owners. The distillery had been closed for over 20 years before Glenglassaugh was restored and re-opened by an independent group. The first distillation took place on 16 December 2008 and the whisky will be bottled on 16 December 2011, when the spirit reaches the minimum legal age for single malt. Cask 1 is an ex-sherry cask and the whisky will retail for £90 a bottle. They expect around 650 bottles from the cask and these will be bottled at the natural cask strength. To pre-order a bottle or get more information, contact first.bottling@glenglassaugh.com.

Jameson > Celebrate London Film Festival

Jameson + BFI = cool

The world’s best selling Irish whisky have teamed up with the BFI (British Film Institute) to celebrate the 55th London Film Festival. Part of the collaboration is the opening of a pop-up 1920s speakeasy style bar for the duration of the festival, which runs from 12-27 October. The Jameson Apartment will offer film and whiskey enthusiasts the chance to sample some classic Jameson cocktails made by a selection of leading bartenders from the London scene, plus Jameson’s specialist mixologist Ed McAvoy. The Apartment will be open from 5.30pm until ‘late’ every night and further information can be found by visiting www.jamesoncultfilmclub.com.

The Whisky Lounge > Manchester Whisky Festival

One of the biggest whisky festivals in the UK, outside of London, is taking place on Saturday 15 October. The Whisky Lounge’s Manchester Whisky Festival takes place at The Lowry Hotel in the heart of the city’s rejuvenated canal side area and features an impressive list of exhibitors, including a first European whisky show appearance for Kavalan Taiwanese single malt. The event takes place over two sessions (11am-3pm and 4pm-8pm) and there are over 200 whiskies on show, plus a series of consumer master classes. Whisky Lounge founder Eddie Ludlow commented, “One of our commitments is to bring new followers to the ‘flock’ and show them that whisky is not just about lairds, tartan and stags. It’s about the moment and learning how to enjoy it – there is something for everyone at our show”. Tickets can be purchased via www.thewhiskylounge.com.

Suntory > A cocktail for every season

The Hakushu Ritto

The Japanese whisky company of Suntory have created a series of cocktails to celebrate the change of season. Brand Ambassador Zoran Peric has produced a cocktail for each of the 24 Japanese seasons and has launched the Hakushu Ritto in the UK, where we are turning autumnal and the nights are drawing in. The Ritto is made with 50ml of Hakushu 12 year old whisky, 75ml of hot green tea, a teaspoon of honey, a pinch of powdered ginger and a squeeze of lemon juice - pour the Hakushu and green tea into a mug, add the honey, ginger and lemon juice and stir until the honey is dissolved, then add the ginger slice and serve. Sounds great for a cold, damp Autumn evening.