Helping out a newbie.... points you may want to consider - PLEASE!!!!

My first scotch, courtesy of my father in law George was an Ardbeg 17. Tastebud suicide or brilliant move? Well in my case a little of both. I choked, sputtered but added ice, finished the dram and... continued to try peated whiskies.

Please do not consider this my first rant of 2017 however there are some points I hope will be considered!!!

Here it is January 9th and already four times this year I've either seen or been included in the following request: "Hey I'm new to scotch or bourbon, so what would you recommend I try".  

Key words number 1:  I'M NEW
Key words number 2: WHAT SHOULD I TRY...

Here is what baffled me...  I know people are simply trying to be helpful and start sending out all sorts of recommendations to this "newbie" immediately -> WITHOUT asking any questions what so ever. I received private messages on 3 of the 4 occasions saying: "Thank you for taking the time to talk to me a little, the rest of that stuff was crazy overwhelming and not very helpful!?".

So... think about this for a minute. Would you do the same if someone asked you to recommend a type of dog? What about a car? "I love my Subaru - Buy one". Errrrr, ok... why?

In my opinion (and this is how I've done this for years) - There are several points to consider when someone asks you to recommend something to "TRY"...

1. Where do they live?  If you live in South Carolina USA and someone from the UK asks you to recommend a bourbon... WHY would you recommend something that is only available in South Carolina??? 

A: Do some research - Where do they live and what is available there... Don't recommend something they can never buy.

2. What is their price range? Why... would you recommend a bottle of scotch that costs $150.00 to someone who is brand new or has little experience with it? If they go by your recommendation and they hate it, they have just spend $150.00 for nothing more than: a door stop.

3. What do these people like? Why.... would you recommend all the things you like? Whisky is subjective as subjective as everything else in our lives. "I like the colour purple - you should wear purple too". Errrr... no.

Take a few moments to see what types of flavours they like. Easy questions such as:

A: What whiskies have you tried so far? Or what ones did you really like?
B: If they have never really tried whisky: Do you like sweet? Do you like the bitterness of coffee or chocolate, what about wine - do you like white vs. red? Beer? Rum? Super easy questions that will help you determine where to possibly point them in the right direction.

4. You are part of a HUGE #whiskyfabric!!! 

What about offering to put them in touch with someone you know near them for help? Or better yet... what about sending them a few little samples after you've determined what they think they might like to try? A try before you buy sort of deal? What a great introduction to the #whiskyfabric and what we are all about!

Now, maybe it's because you've been a whisky enthusiast for many years and you've forgotten how overwhelming and scary venturing out into buying your first few bottles really is? Either way, you may want to consider the points I've mentioned above when someone throws the "What should I try?" question. If you do, a few things will happen:

A. You'll be a trusted source that this person will rely on or refer other friends to. 

AND

B. You'll really get the hang of recommending whiskies to suit the person and not the other way around.

Like I said, not a rant...  just some advice from a whisky enthusiast who remembers standing in front of the large wall of whisky and worse... being led down the wrong path because someone simply didn't take the time to get to know me just a little. Please feel free to add the list of points you are trying to lend a helping hand.




Respectfully,

Lassie

Drams of 2013, Number 8... The accidental Irish tourist - Writers Tears

2013 has been a year of many wonderful whisky discoveries. I struggled at first to remember writing every single one down. I thought it was rather time consuming and having to drag my pink book everywhere was a royal pain in the ass. However I have to say in hindsight just like every other project I've worked on a bit of preventative maintenance before/during always pays off in the end because by documenting everything as it happened it did two things: A) Made me realize how many drams I actually got to try this year and B) it resulted in 342 nosing/tasting notes.   

Dram #8 - Writers Tears was completely accidental in nature. In March I attended the Celebrate Whisky Event in Halifax NS. It turned out to be a pretty great night considering I was suppose to be flying solo since Graham was working behind one of the whisky tables. I had an extra ticket that I sold to a very nice lady named Phlis McGregor and we ended up spending some time together that night, trying different whiskies that we both had "targeted" for the evening. She and I would part ways and then find each other later on and spend a few minutes discussing what we were nosing/tasting. At one point we decided to try and find a specific whisky together which we thought was at table 24. It wasn't... we had got our numbers mixed up. However a long skinny bottle on the table called Writers Tears caught my eye that I didn't recall hearing about or seeing before so I said to Phlis: "Might as well try it since we are here". So we stood in line, waited until we got to the front and the young man proceeded to tell us a bit about the whisky. As soon as he said the word "Irish" I almost instinctively crossed my arms and tucked my glass in thinking: "Meh? An Irish whiskey I've not heard of" and quickly became disinterested in trying it.

Background: Irish whiskies we have in Eastern Canada: Bushmills, Jamesons, Kilbeggan, Connemara or Tullamore Dew. NOT that there is anything wrong with these = breadth of my experience with Irish whiskies limited. Phlis looked at me like: "Aren't you going to put your glass forward?" so I did; still somewhat reluctantly I have to admit. 

Nosed, tasted -> BOOM! Another one of those wow moments where I wasn't sure how to even describe what I had just experienced. I looked over at Phlis to see if she liked it but she wasn't beside me anymore. Found her at a small table a few feet away where she was busy frantically writing notes. I quickly proceeded to do the same.

IPhone photo - trying to get a close up, hehe!

Color:  Bright amber, reminds me of a pale ale. Legs are super thin and extremely runny. A bit of an oily texture to it, sticks to the glass in certain spots.

Nose: Glorious hay right after it's been cut in late August. Fresh, clean/green followed by a very distinct lime or lemon zest, just bursting with citrus notes. (later on wrote - caramel with a ? beside it)

Palate:  Smooth, delicious mouthfeel with a minted marmalade rollercoaster. This is fabulous! 

Finish: So long and lingering. Mint is still at the forefront but honeyed. Reminds me of a whisky toddy with /mint leaves and honey in it. 

I had never tasted a pot still Irish Whiskey before but truly loved this one on first nose/taste. I bought a bottle that very night. I've since introduced it to many friends most of which have turned around and bought their own. As a result of trying this whiskey I began to seek out other Pot Still Irish Whiskies and since have tried: Red Breast and Green Spot just to name a few. In June I discovered there was only one bottle left on the east coast so of course, I bought it.

Writers Tears is now one of my favorite Irish Whiskies and I can't thank Phlis enough for giving me the "evil eye" that day in March.  :)

For more information about Writers Tears please visit their website:  http://www.writerstears.com/

Available widely in the US and in BC, AB, ON for Canada.  Retails about $50... 

The countdown continues as we make our way toward:

Stay tuned!

Johanne

  

      

Dram #10 of 2013 - Meeting Icons & sharing an Arran 16... sort of!?

Looking back at the 342 drams I documented this year I thought it would be difficult to pick the 12 that were the most memorable for me and I was right, it was. I slowly dwindled the list down over and over until I had reached 20. From there it became a little more clear as to which of them would be the top 12.  In May of this year Graham and I went to the Spirit of Toronto Gala produced by Johanna Ngoh. I voted SoT the best show I had been too this year.

We usually make it a point that when we travel we try to get wherever we are going a few days early or tack a day or so at the end. This gives us the opportunity to meet with people, do a bit of the tourist thing or visit distilleries, etc. I am the planner in our family so I had our weekend fully scheduled. Rick Culver, member of the West Side Whisky Society contacted us and offered to pick us at the airport (kindness we find over and over in the #whiskyfabric) and we accepted. A few days later came the offer to take us to the Forty Creek Distillery. Graham and I talked about it and for me the schedule was just too full so I requested we decline. Rick pressed... "Are you sure you don't want to go?" he repeated. So, we rejuggled the schedule and this is how the road starts for dram #10. No, it's not a Forty Creek dram, it's the Isle of Arran 16 year old. Confused?  Don't be... hehehe

The day before we were to leave for Toronto, Rick dropped a bombshell on us. Rumor had it that Ralfy was going to Forty Creek the same morning we were to do part of his videos there. I WAS ECSTATIC and I knew my friend Linda L would be jealous beyond compare. Sure enough we spent the morning at the distillery with John Hall, a few people from the WSWS and Ralfy. It truly was a great morning. Meeting him was surreal and he's nothing less, if not more than what you see in his videos. He's well spoken, funny, well educated on all things whisky and best of all - WE nosed/tasted the first few samples of John's next release together. You just can't beat that! Well, at least I thought that moment couldn't get any better? 

I watched intently as Ralfy asked many questions and took no notes. He simply imbibed and enjoyed and I remember thinking wow! How does he do that? 

Ok lady, you are thinking... where the heck does the Arran 16 fit in this story? Moving along! So flash forward to the night of the Spirit of Toronto and I have tickets to attend Charlie MacLean's Master Class. Heaven! He is a great presenter and had us all riveted to our seats. Then off to the actual Gala where who do I get to talk to again: Ralfy. They have a fantastic area set out that looks like a den with chairs, a sofa, etc. It's brilliant! He went over to the book case and opened a small compartment and pulls out the Arran 16.  

Out from behind the bookcase pops Charlie MacLean and the next thing I know the three of us are dram in hand and we are nosing/tasting the Arran together.   I pulled out my pink little tasting notes book and put it on the table ready to write everything down. I nosed the beautiful whisky. I talked, shared but mostly listened to Ralfy & Charlie describe the dram. I loved it. I had that moment where all of a sudden you become very aware of your surroundings, sounds, smells and where your brain is screaming:  "Remember this moment". To which I always will. It was a great night with fantastic drams. My tasting notes? Yah... there wasn't any and if you asked me what I remember about that I'd have to say:  It was a damn fine dram! Fabulous even, but don't ask me why because I truly don't remember any of the nose/palate notes I discussed. 

I recorded it in my book as dram #148 for the year but the entry reads:  SoT, May 11/13 - Isle of Arran 16 year old. (OMG - with Ralfy & Charlie MacLean) and that's all I wrote.  I still giggle at this entry. It truly was the dram that wasn't... So why is it a memorable dram for 2013. Well, I knew I loved it. It was really a remarkable dram and I actually did buy it not long ago (although it's still unopened).  

Courtesy of RM Culver

It's a memorable dram because instead of writing a whole bunch stuff down and worrying about what I was saying with Ralfy & Charles I simply got lost in the moment and the dram. AND... sometimes those are the best drams to have.

If you are still interested in getting a bit of information about the Isle of Arran 16, please watch Ralfy's review. It's spot on to what we were all talking about in Toronto that lovely May night.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjU_EFmiO_M


Cheers!


PS -> If you live in Canada, Arran 16 is sold out... sorry my lovelies :(