I usually take some time between Christmas and New Year’s Day, like I’m sure many of you do, to take a look at my life and see how I can improve it in the New Year.
My whisky resolution for the new year is to promote this wonderful world of whisky as much as I can, while still keeping my life in balance.
Balance, to me, is very important. Whisky is a big part of my life–and I hope that it always will be–but it’s certainly not the only part. In fact, I want to make sure that I put my family, friends, and health before whisky.
I think to be the best at something, the sacrifice is just too great. A couple months ago, I was chatting with a fellow whisky writer and he told me that, in the past year, he only had two days off–including weekends!
I want to be a friend to whisky, not a slave to it. If that means that I’ll never be the most influential person in whisky, that’s fine with me. As long as I am, in some way, helping you along your whisky path, then I am content.
So, that’s my resolution for the new year: Whisky? Yes. But in balance!
How about you? What’s your New Year’s whisky resolutions?
My resolution is to regain my sanity and not spend so much on whisky…
I will have as much success at this as creating a rock so big I can’t lift it I am sure; however, curbing those “must haves” would be prudent to my wallet.
I’m going to try and stop complaining about the constant (and sometimes astronomical) rise in prices of single malt whisky.
It will be tough…
My resolution is to do some more competitive shopping BEFORE I buy. Seems like every time I find a special bottle, it turns up for a lower price somewhere else very soon afterwards. There are large price discrepancies out there and the buyer needs to beware! Just because one place has one bottle “on sale”, I’ve learned that not all of their bottles are “on sale”.
My Whisky-based-resolution is more or less the same as it was last year.
- Stop buying impulsively.
- Focus on a few distilleries.
- More samples and tastings!
Last year, I failed this on all fronts…
Measure my drams more carefully to control portions size.
Like others I lament the price rise of whisk(e)y in general. I resolve to drink more of Harviestoun Brewerys Ola Dubh in the new year. Their ale is aged in Highland Park barrels and is fantastic. Quite pricey, it is definitely a special occasion sipping beer. I was going to resolve to spend less on single malts, but why lie. I would not keep the resolution. Happy New Year to all.
Same as last year: Plan that trip to Scotland!
David G, yes, you’ll never get there if you don’t plan it. If you go, you won’t regret it.
Mine is to stop buying more whiskey than I can drink. And since I have stocks to last me a lifetime, I shouldn’t be buying much more at all anymore. No point trying to taste every whisky out there, for me.
John
I will second Sjoerd’s comment. I spent too much on whisky this year. So much so that my wife gave me some sideways glances. Not good.
There’s not much to change. I will try to go to Scotland twice in 2010, as every year. Will try not to exhaust the credit card too much on these trips, but this always fails spectacularly.
There are too many expressions only sold at the distillery and I always want to buy them.
So I am afraid it’s not much that will be different coming year.
But a lot of fun will be had by everybody!!!
Anyway, I wish everybody on this list to have his resolutions come true.
My resolutions will be to stop buying impulsively, narrow my collection a bit, and maybe start bunkering some of the better whiskies I’ve come across.
Hope to…no sorry, I will take some more time to enjoy my (small) whiskycollection, taste new ones (especially in search of big value for money “drams”!) and explore the rich world of whisky further. I consider it as some time for my own and a way to forget the daily stress related to work
. I also hope to enlarge my whiskyknowledge furthermore and finally get my old time friends as enthusiastic about whisky as I am…oh yes, a trip to Scotland is already for a long time on my “wish list” 
… great blog, I’m a “fresh one” from Belgium here 
John, as I get older, the resolution is the same… drink less in terms of quantity of better quality alcohol. This applies to whisky, wine, and beer. Best, Sam
Nice resolution John. Variety is the spice of life and balance should be part of that variety.
I know it is futile to think that I’m going to work less in the coming year, but I’m going to resolve to enjoy it to the fullest, which means to enjoy it with more friends and family.
I will try as much as possible (within good reason) to help expand my knowledge. And instead of concentrating on what my customers are after, I am going to take a little time for myself this year and try to enjoy it a little more then I currently do. (On my own time of course!!)
My main resolution to make more time for my better bottles. From almost anywhere in my small apartment, I can see my liquor cabinet and the wonderfully relaxing and uplifting experiences that are waiting inside it. I want to drink my Laphroaig 30 and my Glenfarclas 1965, and any number of other bottles more frequently, but often the free time that I have doesn’t seem enough to do them justice. So I’m going to work on changing that.
1. more will power and buy less;
2. focus on enjoyment (i.e., DRINK the darn thing) instead of collecting/bunkering/hoarding;
3. more variety – i tend to focus on something and my taste buds go wacky when i drink something else. this year, i drank only bourbon – no scotch. i had a dram of jw blue at my parent’s house on christmas day and … i had to FORCE myself to finish it;
4. glenmorangie 10, talisker 10 and singleton 12 and just a wee bit of bourbon at the start of the year to put my taste buds back into neutral; and
5. (Texas will get a kick out of this!) if the BCS MNC Rose Bowl game goes the way i think it will, make sure i don’t break any whisk(e)y glasses.
It’s getting to the point of interesting how many of you feel like your whisky buying is out of control.
I wonder what it is about whisky or whisky appreciators that makes this the case. Is it that it’s affordable, but just barely? Most of us probably aren’t buying too many cars or gambling too much. What is it?
1. Dive deeper into Rye
2. Drink more instead of just hoarding
3. Host more tastings for my friends
My resolution is to continue last year’s of trying to say things as nicely as possible online, even when complaining about high prices (and particularly for young whiskies), 40% ABV, chill filtering, and wine finishing. And also not piling on when my point has already been made five times by others.
Red, speaking from personal experience, it is just so easy to buy an extra bottle or two all the time. With a car, you either bought it outright, or make fixed payments.
Slainte.
Louis
Buy less
Drink more
(it’s not a contradiction even thou it looks so..!!!)
Macdeffe
My only whisky resolution this year is to control spending. I went back and added up what I spent on Scotch in 2009 and would be ashamed to tell anyone the result. Money well spent, of course, but from a practical standpoint I out of space!
I have two resolutions. 1. is to continue to learn as much as I can about whiskey and experience as many new types as whiskey as possible.
2. is to plan a trip first to Kentucky and then eventually to Scotland.
Red_Arremer, your observation about how many of us (including myself) believe our whisk(e)y buying is out of control – I’ll speak for myself. First, it is a relatively affordable luxury (with the exception certain bottles), unlike say automobiles or fine art. Second, like others have hinted at, a hundred here, a few hundred there, all add up to a number that throw us for a loop when we add it all up. Third, I know this year I definitely bought more than I can drink this year – part of it is that I want to compare this year’s bottling to previous and future years and another driver is that certain bottles are limited to this year only.
Find bargains on the whisky our guests and other customers want. They must have made the same resolution for 2009 many of you have made here: stop spending so much on whisky. None of them were interested in that $200 bottle on the top shelf, and they looked at me as if I’d fallen out of a tree when I told them the retail price. With a few exceptions, they like a $45 – $90 price tag for a good whisky, and there are many. I’ll find more as I help them live up to their resolutions.
Red, the problem is that our curiosity far exceeds our ability to consume. That is to say, the brain’s ability to absorb is greater than the liver’s.
When all else fails, blame Joe Howell.
Jon W, never look back, and never add up. It just doesn’t pay. There’s a lot of other things besides whisky that I’d hate know how much I spent for over the course of a year.
I think the only resolution I have for 2010 is to try and get more people to try whisky. I know a lot of you will be saying “well, there’s an obvious reason for that” but it’s more because there are so many nice whiskies out there and I still meet a lot of people who tried one whisky, didn’t give it time (ie, just necked it) and have declared themselves off whisky for life, which is wrong.
Whisky comes in many tastes and forms and I’d like to get more people trying different expressions in the coming 12 months.
That and wishing good health to everyone here of course!
I resolve to spend a day with out-of-state friends and a possible new Eastern Pennsylvania distiller sampling whiskeys (mostly ryes, surprise!) bottled as long ago as 100 years and as new as last month, at a south-central Pennsylvania location that has as much claim to the significance of the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794 as any, and it will be an outstanding event in my personal whiskey evolution…a day to be remembered on many counts.
Oh, dammit, it really happened today, December 29. I guess I jumped the gun on my New Year’s resolution. Oh well…may it happen again in 2010!
I will try not spend so much on whisky as I have done the past couple of years.
At present I’m up to the point where I, when I see something interesting in the 180£/300$/200eur range, I don’t even flinch. This has got to stop!! it just has to or I’ll go bankrupt… Is this the same thing as with women and shoes?? if so, I can now relate
Other than that, I’ll continue as chairman in the local whisky club, sofar until 2011 – and with that putting a lot of time and effort into finding bottles for the club and arranging tastings for our members.
Lots of good tastings planned for this Spring, so far.
A Japan tasting in Jan.
In Feb. we have Laphroaig OB18+21OMC+OB25 vs. Octomore 1st+2nd edition+PC8.
In March a prominent whisky writer is likely to stop by *wink wink* and finally in April we’ll be tasting ‘British Petroleum’ – Dont worry we won’t be poisoning our members but serving whisky from 2 closed distilleries, one starting with B, the other with P
Also hope to take aleast 2 trips to Scotland in 2010 – I went 3 times in 2009, 1 week in March, 2 weeks in August and 1 week in October. All very good trips, but the 2 weeks in August were really good, with an excellent visit to Orkney and Highland Park and later on those week, Islay
That said, I’ll have to visit a local winedealer on my way home from work today – hopefully picking up a Highland Park ‘Hjärta’ 12yo CS for Scandinavia at a good price – so much for stop buying
To drink it but never been drunk by it.
Richard,if you want people to try
more whisky lower the price…
I think most of us who have stated, “I will spend less” have fallen prey to the curse of the often stated, “the maximum I will spend on a bottle is” proclamation. This is a statement I will never make again. I will never proclaim “I will never” as it seems as the universe will darn well make sure I break that promise.
It started so innocently looking for a great 40 dollar bottle of scotch—then somewhere along the line the scotch hobbyist mode set in. The dollar limit doubled the thirst for scotch knowledge was only eclipsed by the thirst for a good dram. The last price limit I set in 2009 was $200 a bottle is a level I should attempt to stay under. Oh, that worked out until I “had to have” an Ardbeg 1975 25 year bottle. So, lesson learned there… Don’t tempt the karmic gods of scotch buying—they will beat you every time.
Brian47126
Ditto on that jazz lover (talisker10 from the other forum as I am sure you have figured out).
Yes,good to see you here.
Wow,I suppose that I shouldn’t be too surprised (because I was guilty of this myself at one time in my life) but there’s a lot of you who are spending more on whisky than you think you should.
I wonder how much of this is because whisky prices have increased so much lately?
Richard, you are right about trying to get people to give whisky a second chance. It’s so easy to try a whisky one time (especially something like Laphroaig, for example) and then say “wow, that’s too much for me, I can’t handle that.”)
I am finally going to Scotland this year, my resolution though is to find a couple of go to whiskies that I can buy and know are good. This in conjutcion with sampling new and differnt whiskies. It’s nice to just have one you know will be outstanding for a reasonable price and just enjoy it. Right now that could be Quarter Cask, but still searching.
Well, I think it’s a combination of a couple of things, John…
I’ve been drinking whisky for about 10 years now, and at first I went for all the standard bottlings around, basically, I didn’t know better.
Then a friend has this malt you just have to try…and it’s gonna cost you again bacause you like it too – there are just so many factors.
That said, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with drinkng standard bottlings, but take it from me – your tastebuds will develop as you drink.
I remember buying my first 100$+ whisky 6 years ago (a Benromach 18yo OB) thinking that was soooo expensive but it was a must-have because my tastebuds scored it high at a tasting a short time before.
So to all you guys out there still on OB’s – start saving up og stop drinking now – you’ll see yourself buying more and more expensive whisky as your taste develops.
You will see both your nose and palate being able to pick up finer nuances, as you go along – I take it as an never ending education. Then you go to tastings and discover new distilleries and decide to look more into those – and that’s gonna cost you again
On a more ‘sad’ note – whisky has become really fashionable as new (big) markets emerge (China, Russia, India, Brazil). You see bottle designs change to a more streamlined design to attract the smart, hip new buyer, almost looking like a vodka bottle on the shelves in a nightclub.
The whisky in those contries still doesn’t cost as much as here in the West, so the producers has to make up for the smaller profit by jerking up prices here where we’re still able to pay it. Then there’s the cost of raw material, Fuel, barley, labour cost, bottling, marketing etc. – those prices especially barley and fuel has gone way up since I started drinking whisky and it all has to be paid for by someone – and that’s you and me.
There’s also some really clever marketing guys outthere, just look at Ardbeg and what they charge for the lastest 11yo SingleCask: 180£/300$/200eur – now that’s downright rediculous – If i’m to spend that much money, I want something really old and special – something produced when whisky was a more craftmans work, and not something as industrialised as today.
Now I’ve been rambling on and on about the direction whisky is going in, then I can’t help liking small family run dsitilleries like Glenfarclas and Springbank – although the Family Cask series was rediculously priced too
but both distilleries still produce excellent whisky.
Bottom line: Prices go up, raw materials cost more, and it’s a supply and demand situation as with all other good… oh, and then there’s those damn tastebuds
Good thing i’ve stocked up a bit
Cheers
@Jazzlover – we’ve got whiskies in every price range possible and I travel with rare samples whenever possible so we do everything we can to make sure there is a whisky for everyone.
Thank you Richard,we used to have a saying
in the U.S Navy “A bitching sailor is a
happy sailor”. LOL
I prefer not to make resolutions as I hardly ever keep any and so would feel only more frustrated.
These are my ‘aspirations’ for 2010, all of which have already been mentioned above:
1. To watch my budget: my taste has changed in that I now tend to buy more expensive bottles compared to when I started drinking whisky about five years ago (my limit used to be c.70 euros per bottle, now it’s 200).
2. To not give in to impulsive buying, particularly out of fear of missing out on some limited special; but instead,
3. To be more content with what I already have and have been allowed to enjoy in the past.
Well put, Wolfgang – I like your no. 3
Wolfgang, BigMac: yes, contentment is happiness, isn’t it?
Resolution: To deliberate about purchases and buy within disciplined parameters, to support relatively smaller whisky makers and not to spend my “whisky money” in bars.
My purchases over the last several years have gone more in the direction of independent bottlings and rarer expressions, but as a drinker not a collector of whisky. Even the rarest of my bottles are just waiting for the right moment with the right friends. But, you know, I have to be disciplined. I gave up WhiskyFest two years ago to have a bottle of Glenfarclas 1968 instead (not an easy decision, John); it’s gone but it left behind some fine memories. I find that not spending as much and making focused purchases can heighten the satisfaction of some drams.
Also, if they choose to price as they do, then my choice is to discriminate significantly in my purchases. I don’t know how wealthy I would have to be not to stumble over the price of, for instance, a Manager’s Choice bottle. But I smile at the thought of all the whiskies one could buy instead, collectively, as a set. I stumble over the presumption as much as the price, tripping right down the aisle to alternative great whiskies from other sources. (I recently finished a bottle of BenRiach 20 that richly satisfied more than just my nose and palate!)
A too-long post, perhaps…Gentlemen, it’s cold and snowy in Chicago now and I’ve had a hearty lunch. I raise a glass of SMWS 33.77 (“breaks the shackles of earth-bound reality”) to the realization of our aims in the New Year. Cheers.
…and for contentment to grow we need each other’s stories (those fabulous ones in the other thread), to be reminded that there is so much to be grateful for.
So at year’s end, thank you all for sharing from your hearts, you have greatly contributed to my nascent contentment!
Oh, I do have one resolution after all (an easy one to keep): I will continue my yearly pilgrimage to Scotland with a trip to Speyside and the E. Highlands next May.
John,
I think that the excess of bottles acquied is due to at least three (but possibly more) reasons:
1) It’s not the kill, it’s the thrill of the chase. Who needs boring distillery bottlings that anybody can buy, when you can own one of 167 bottles of that Ardbeg 1975 that Jim Murray gave 97 points to.
2) The prospect of an empty bottle. Once I finish the bottle off, I won’t have it anymore, better buy a few extra bottles. Of everything.
3) The need to have a bottle from every distillery, at every age, in every cask type. This is indeed similar to women’s shoes, my wife once explained to me how many pairs of dark blue shoes could be required, and it actually made sense.
Slainte.
Louis
My resolution is to continue to focus on the people as much as the whisky. My love of single malt whisky has led to meet and know people inside and outside the industry (John and Amy among them) who have made my life a richer place.
When I go to tastings, meet with friends to try new drams or host an event I am amazed and the diversity of friendships I have developed that, without our love of whisky would never have happened. What a wonderful, unexpected benefit.
So here is to trying new and exciting bottlings and meeting and enjoying the company of all the people I will meet along the way.
I think Louis hit the nail on the head.
there are so many limited runs that you are forced to buy more and often if you intend to have them around.
It is scary to realize how much I have spent on whiskey in 2009.Yikes!! Either whiskey is more expensive than I thought or I really enjoyed 2009.
I must say that I appreciate everyone’s honesty.
My resolution is also not to spend so much on whisky considering the last bottle i bought was the prized 1967 Karuizawa single cask! In reality, though i would like to host more tastings and educate more people on how wonderful whisky is. The last year i hosted 3 incredibly amazing whisky events and everybody was asking for more so 2010 will include much more of that! Cheers!
Oh, also get up the nerve to open the 1967 Karuizawa!
I do not have new year’s resolutions. I have daily resolutions.
I am pretty happy with where I am right now. I shop competitively, spend the right amount, buy the right amount, drink the right amount, drink with the right people, and drink at the right times.
Maybe I’ll drink more bourbon this coming year or delve into Canadian whisky.
A happy and healthy New Year to you and yours, John.
I plan to delve more into Irish whisky; have a couple different Bushmill’s single malts but that’s all. Starting off with Jameson’s 18. Also hope to make that first trip to Scotland in 2010.
i guess since i did it today, i technically haven’t violated my proposed new year’s resolutions: i caved in and bought the last (to my knowledge) bottle of pappy 23, another pappy lot b, orvw 10 yo and a glenkinchie 10 yo (it was on sale so i feel better).
john, this year, i convinced a friend of mine who wasn’t into whisk(e)y to give bourbon another shot. he bought a btac er 17 (2008), loved it and tried pappy 15 yo and pappy 20 yo and loved them (although not as much as the er 17). funny thing is that about 10 years ago, he tried btac er 15 at my house and thought it was too strong (he wasn’t into spirits back then – just beer and wine). he is hooked on good bourbon now, prefers them over scotch. he was also disappointed in this year’s (2009) er 17. my next goal is to have him try the btac wlw and gts – the high proof intimidates him.
JWC, well done. Giving a friend another shot at bourbon is always a great idea. And I think the 2008 Eagle Rare 17 is wonderful!
Tim McCann, there are some amazing Irish (and Canadian) whiskeys. Jameson 18 is very nice. Have you tried Redbreast 12 year old yet? Yum!
Oh to be in Tim’s position again of having the entirety of Irish whiskey yet to be discovered!
What amazing joys await you, Tim!
Irish whiskey isn’t a subset of Scotch. It’s another beast entirely, even if all three distillers do turn a hand to single malts from time to time.
The key to understanding Irish whiskey is to tackle the Irish blend, and the key component of most historical Irish blends is Irish pure potstill whiskey, a unique style indigenous to Ireland (though I hear whispers of attempts in Scotland and on the continent to replicate.)
Redbreast is your entry level pure potstill, but that’s a bit like entering on the top floor. It’s superb, and only surpassed in my opinion by its 15 yo rarer namesake, or by the former 15 yo Jameson PPS. But Green Spot is also available if you can find it, and much of the Jameson range, as well as Powers 12 yo and Writers Tears, will give you a high potstill content in classic Irish blends.
I genuinely believe that no distiller offers something to all tastes like Cooley does. Their range is mesmerisingly wide.
Connemara at its best stands as tall as smokey Scotches at similar age, while Tyrconnell is a great alternative to a fruity Speyside. The oldest expressions of both are now hitting 17 and just keep getting better.
Bushmills you’re already experiencing, so I’ll leave you to that. But it must be said that for a cheap bar dram or a shelf bottle for guests or even enjoying alone, it’s really hard to surpass Black Bush.
Gotta agree with John on Canadian whiskeys too. Some excellent drams from Canada are out there, and I’m only just beginning to learn about them.
But again, it seems to me that their products excel as blends rather than single malts.
As for whiskey resolutions, just the one for 2010: I hope to assist the Irish Whiskey Society in building on the phenomenal success of their inaugural year in existence.
JC, nice overview. (I always make sure I have a bottle of Green Spot on hand, and I am still savoring a bottle of the Jameson 15 yr. PPS whisky. I’ve also been loving the Powers 12.)
Powers 12 Year Old is terrific value!
I agree about Powers 12, Red Breast and Black Bush. I have those at an Irish pub in my neighborhood (comp, because I wrote their whisk(e)y list for them).
Now I’ll be off to find Green Spot and Writers’ Tears.
Anybody know a means to get these in Chicago (without going to IRE and bringing them back)? Not at Binny’s or Warehouse, and not, as far as I could tell at Park Ave either. Any ideas?
Also, I finally just did the “two for one” subscription offer. Merry whisky mag to me.
Mark, Redbreast 15 and Powers 12 are coming to the US in 2010. Greenspot, I’m afraid, isn’t. Rebreast 12 is already here.
I think Pete McPeat n Jack Washback at Serge”s Whiskyfun sum it up . The best of both worlds?!
In 2010 ,I hope to maintain my level of Spirits and increase my reading about Whisky.Hopefully more fine books about the characters involved in the making of whisky and its history come out. Richard I really enjoyed yours. Ian and Neil,I also appreciate your efforts in making some of the classics available.There are treasures out there in the stories of Whisky/ey’s men n women that need to be preserved.Please someone can we have more bios or autobios?
I also hope that in this hectic world, people like Jim Rutledge, Jim McEwan, Frank McHardy, Willie Tait, Richard Paterson,(John include yourself here) and all the other Whisky/ey Apostles can enjoy some quality time tonight with friends or family instead of chasing around the world” doing the business”.
I plan on starting the New Year early at 5PM with a Gouden Carolus Noel on tap at the Malt House to celebrate the midnight middle cut of Goulden Carolus Whisky that will christen the new distillery of Het Anker in Blassveld.
Mr.Bosman, I hope you are “still” on schedule. And I also hope to see you at John’s Whiskyfest in Chicago in 2013 with your new whisky.And if I cant purchace it because of price or availability then at least I can sample it at the Fest!
Health,Weath,Wisdom & the Best to All in the New Year.
Thanks Mike. You too!
I’m very much looking forward to the Redbreast 15 and Powers 12 (I mistakenly put the ’12′ in that first post, probably out of anticipation).
I wish Green Spot were an option around here, and somehow New Year’s just sounds happier with Writers Tears.
I have some Irish friends going over soon, and my son is actually studying there next term. There’s hope.
Worst comes to the worst, there are retailers in Dublin and Britain who will do mail order of those Irish whiskeys to the US.
But I suspect that it should be possible to raise most of them as it is.
Writers Tears is only recently out here, so may not be imminent for the US. But the new Redbreast 15 will be making it stateside in 2010, and the other IDL drams should be available from whiskey specialist retailers in America in the coming year.
Green Spot, as always, remains on retail only in Dublin Town, but the aforementioned retailers can oblige.
Thank you! I’ll check out some options.
I resolve to visit more distilleries now that I have my driving licence. No excuse!
Happy new year folks, all the very best from Edinburgh.
This year will be very much quality over quantity in terms of my whisky consumption. As to buying, I hope to limit myself to one bottle a month which should ensure that my stock levels should stay around level.
Regarding things related to whisky, I’m continuing last years resolutions, which include:
1) drink less, but more selectively – don’t feel compelled to finish a glass if it is not superb whisky
2) buy very selectively and patiently, facilitated by tasting before buying or considering the advice of someone else with a trustworthy palate, buying only excellent whisky, and waiting for sales, then purchasing more than one bottle
3) avoiding the compulsion to buy overpriced whisky no matter how good it is, this only feeds the beast – the only complaint that whisky sellers truly hear is that of lower sales
Mine is host at least one whisky dinner a month. I’d like people to see that whisky does pair with food just as well as wine does!
I’m also going to be checking out more of the bottlings from the smaller, less well-known distilleries and bottlers as the prices that the big guns are charging these days is getting a bit silly.
John – Thank you for the reccomendation! I have read your comments on Redbreast in the past and am intrigued by it. Seems to me like a great place to start the journey!
JC – Thanks for laying out a map to follow! I will indeed take Irish whisky as a world unto itself. When I first started getting into bourbons, I had friends who were scotch drinkers telling me how it wouldn’t compare to scotch, or that it was a “weaker sister.” Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. As soon as I approached bourbon as a separate and distinct product the light went on!
I love bourbon now, and count several bourbons among my favorite whiskies. I can’t wait to see what to see what Irish (and Canadian!) whiskies I will add to that list.
Thank you both for responding. Happy New Year!
Drink more.. spend less.
As was echoed numerous times, I think a good resolution for me would be to drink more and spend less. But as that’s ALWAYS my resolution, and one I can’t seem to stick to, the runner up is to get more of my friends to learn to appreciate whisky the way they are learning to appreciate wine and beer as a craft. Far too many seem to love to delve into the intricacies of wine or wander down the tasting lanes of beer, but when it gets to whisky, it’s all about what’s cheap and mixes well with Coca-Cola.
There’s just such variety to whisk(e)y out there, that if you’re still of the opinion that ‘all whisky tastes alike,’ you’re not really trying.
My resolution was “buy less bottles”.
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