Jason, the mighty chieftain of the fantastic Guid Scotch Drink, came up with the great idea of having a whisky bloggers’ roundtable, wherein once a month a whisky-related question is posed by one of the group and the responses are then collected and posted on their website. Jason invited a group of 12 writers from literally all around the world, and they are:
A pretty heady crowd to be a part of, that’s for sure. So roundtable question #1 has been asked, we’ve responded and Jason has compiled them. Here’s the question:
What rules have you set for yourself in your whisky lives, and how have you rationalized breaking them?
Here’s my response, just for good measure…
Rule #1, for me, whether it’s at a whisky bar, at a big whisky show, or home alone with a wee dram, is NO GUN PLAY. I may run a little loose on the others, but this one I stand firm on…call me old-fashioned. Other than that, I’m not sure I’ve made conscientious rules or guidelines regarding whisky. I’m lucky enough to have a fantastic girlfriend (let’s call her Sherry Butts) who enjoys whisky nearly as much as I do, so together we’re always excited to bring a new bottle home, visit a distillery or go to a tasting. Mostly, I don’t really think about price and I don’t really worry about how many bottles I can or cannot buy a month because those things are decided for me by my bantam weight and slightly provincial bank account. I suppose I could pick up $800 bottles every couple of months but doing so would severely hamper my ability to do things I’d like to do in the future…like buy another bottle that year or send a kid to college, or hell, have a kid in the first place. Really, I think the only rule I have for myself is to learn. Such a nerdy attitude will surely get my ass kicked on the playground, I know, but I started writing about whisky as a way to explore, catalog, and get a better understanding of this all stuff for myself. I’m no expert, I just enjoy whisky and its surrounding places, history, and figures, and am always excited to learn more about it all. Actually…hold on, now that I think of it, I have one more rule, actually more of goal than a rule and that is “whisky is for drinking”. I don’t have many…ok, I don’t have any preciously rare bottles, but there are occasions when I hesitate to pour something I want because the bottle’s getting low. I need to remember that whisky in the bottle is worthless, whisky in the belly is always worthwhile. Except maybe if you’ve got no stomach lining left, then not so worthwhile.
THE CASKS 