I’m reading through your New Year’s resolutions, and there’s a common theme throughout most of them:
“My resolution is to regain my sanity and not spend so much on whisky…”
“My Whisky-based-resolution is more or less the same as it was last year–stop buying impulsively.”
“Measure my drams more carefully to control portions size.”
“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.”
“I spent too much on whisky this year. So much so that my wife gave me some sideways glances. Not good.”
“My resolutions will be to stop buying impulsively.”
“More will power and buy less”
“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.”
” To not give in to impulsive buying, particularly out of fear of missing out on some limited special.”
“It is scary to realize how much I have spent on whiskey in 2009.Yikes!!”
Gosh, one would think that you’re talking about crack cocaine, not whisky! The comments go on and on. This is just a small portion of them.
So, let me ask you. Why are we like this? What is it that drives us to buy more whisky (and spend more money on whisky) than we want to?
For me, it is as much about expanding my collection, impulse (the fun of opening a new bottle and explore the liquid), and trying new stuff.
Most guys I ask how to control the budget tell me to taste before you buy. The biggest problem with that is that it is not always possible and you don’t want to miss out on anything.
Also, I want to play with the big boys with bigger collections. For some reason I go a bit too far in that and I end up buying to the maximum of my ‘whisky budget’.
A last issue is postage costs. When I order something from the UK, I always convince myself that it is unwise to spend all those shipment costs on one bottle. Last time I did that, I ended up ordering four bottles. Talk about impulse…
Why are we like this? Curiosity? The search for the perfect dram for each occasion and mood? Addiction? Probably a combination of all, for me at least…
And indeed, I get sideways glances form my wife too.
Good question and one which I’m not exactly sure of. I like to try new whiskies and find new flavours, but it’s also an alcoholic drink designed to relax and be pleasurable. I also like the history and traditions surrounding, in particular, Scotch whisky, being proudly Scottish.
None of that really explains it, though.
For me it´s like hunting and collecting. If you have a passion in whisky it`s really really hard to resist from all the influences around the world, that`s a fact. I would never thought about a rye, if I wouldn`t read about it in the www. As a whisk(e)y lover you find yourself in a double bind.Have you ever tried the XX Year old from Ardlavulindoch or the newest new make from Glenalivetdoch ?
Here in Germany the whisk(e)y fans find an easy solution for this dilemma. We share bottles in 5 or 10 cl samples and so you save money on the one hand and can taste a lot of whiskies on the other hand. So don`t ask me how many samples I actually have…..
Much of my passion for whisky is based on the novelty of each dram. I started drinking three years ago and in that time have bought over 50 bottles, but I have not bought more than 2 bottles of any one kind.
I tend to buy more than I should because the bottles are not available in smaller sizes. I think the 200 mL would be perfect, but I end up with a lot of half-drunk 750 mL bottles because I want to try the next thing.
I agree, 20 cl. would be a better bottle size for a spirit that’s all about uniqueness.
I think most of us are flavor junkies. Always on the lookout for more excitement.
And the feeling of being attached to an industry, that is quite open. Usually you can go and visit you distillery you like, and see with your own eyes and senses, how the drink you favor is being made.
I have some 70 bottles, some open and some still closed.
I buy, if possible 2 bottles. 1 for immediate tasting and 1 for later.
Not for increasing monetary value, because I don’t buy whisky for investment, but for being able to open a bottle some years later and saying Oh yeah, that was good.
Sometimes it is nice to compare with new expressions from that distillery.
I agree with Jacob Holbrook, that smaller bottles are much better.
Because of the “lower” price for a 200ml, the number of samples/bottles could be much higher.
The numbers could indeed be higher with smaller bottles. I do think, however, that my wife still wouldn’t agree on me buying even more bottles. There is always the storage / putting them on display issue to discuss
Maybe because the stuff really is so darn good. We collectively are not buying cheap supermarket blends. Today’s scoth, bourbon, rye, and various other spirits are quality products, that have clear distinctions between each one. Thanks to the internet, we understand these differences, and want to try as many as possible. The suggestions above for 200ml bottles make a lot of sense. I’ve purchased many bottles that I could have just as easily lived with a few drams. But then again, I am sure that the freed up cash would have just gone for some other bottle.
Slainte.
Louis
In my particular case I think I buy them for the social factor, I mean, I buy each bottle thinking “I’m going to open this up when it is my birthday”, or “When some friends visit me” and I’m always thinking about every occasion to buy a bottle. And also as Sjoerd de Haan says, it is about trying not to miss out anything
It’s very simple for me..it just tastes so darn good. Therein lies the problem..it’s very easy to forget how much you are consuming. It’s not like you are drinking some kinda cheap, rotgut, stuff that continually reminds you are drinking alcohol.
Remember the famous by Robert E. Lee:
“I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it.”
Good question
I agree with a lot of the posts above, and think its more a question about bottle size than obsession,…or our the standard bottler size doesn’t fit our obsession. As other mentioned they do above, I have also started some intense sample swapping and bottle sharing. When I am in Edinburgh I hoard the Cadenheadshop for 20cl bottlings. 10-15£ for 20cl high quality cask strength whisky (usually 10-15yrs). I just wish they had a larger selection
Macdeffe
it’s funny, but as u build your collection and have more bottles, you want more and more and to try new flavours.
the distilleries and marketing depts. know this and are realsing endless versions each year, which keep us wanting more and more.
when i had like 3 bottles, i felt i had a lot, now that i have 10 fold that number, i feel like i need to get more.
it’s indeed an addiction, a hobby, and as collectors (i drink my malts, and not save it) we always want that unique one , or the one we read about and must have.
i guess if i had 200 bottles i’d aim for 500, and so forth.
the only thing that i am sometimes thankful(and sometimes, i curse for it) is that it’s so hard getting malts here in Israel (tax, and little inventory and price) that had i lived in the UK i’d now have such a big collection i’d need a whole room for it. it’s really hard going into that malt shop and seeing all those sext bottles all full, and shiny, and not getting another.
Gal.
Having just got into this over the past year or so I have focused more on taste and availability.
I am not able to get a lot of bottles in my state so I end up identifying things that I like and hoarding multiples. I cant go down to the store and buy these and it’s somewhat of a hedge against inflation. For out of production finds or limited expressions it’s a hedge against unobtainium.
Webster’s New World … “obsession: 2 b) a persistent … desire … that cannot be gotten rid of by reasoning”
I’m a single malt whisky lover first and a saloon owner second so I serve two masters. I order some whisky based on my desires, and I order others as the whim-wham of one or several guests (i.e., peat, sherry, malt, oak).
Our guests never fail to amaze me at our unconventional, unstructured tastings. They taste some expressions of their choice, and I’ve watched in awe as complete strangers swap glasses with each other so they might try still more different drams in one night. Obsession? Yes. Fun? Always.
It’s a scenario uttered across all whisky discussion boards – people admitting they have more whisky than they could ever drink yet still buying more.
I would class that as a collecting compulsion rather than a drinking one (which would fall under alcoholism.)
I’m not entirely immune myself. There was a time I yearned for every Irish whiskey that was ever bottled to have on my shelf. But once they’re there, it can be difficult sometimes to open and enjoy them, due to their expense, or rarity.
Then I copped on to myself, and realised that as distillers foray further into the land of bottles priced in the tens of thousands of euro, I could never seek to be completist.
Now I have plenty of bottles, and I’m happy to open nearly all of them, and I’m happy to settle for a nice Black Bush just as much as the latest super-rare single cask edition.
The problem is spending too much of the present enjoying your prospects for the future appreciation of whisky. Too much time surveying your collection. Anticipation and collecting are great pleasures in themselves, but if you want to reduce the buying addiction you’ve got to tip things in the other direction.
Learning to immerse yourself in the experience onf a good dram is hard to do and if it seems less thrilling than buying or planning to buy, then you have more work to do.
I like JC have learned to be fairly controlled about my whiskey buying over the years. About 18 months ago I flogged off about 100 bog standard bottles for pretty much what I paid for them just to be rid of them, some were just too ordinary to be bothered with and was clouding my judgement. By doing this it enabled me to turn my whiskey “collection” into a useable whiskey “hoard”. Rejoice I can not open and not worry about decimating collection as it no longer exists in my mind.
But why do we behave like this … Is it the search for that ultimate bottle, is it the search for the perfect whiskey or is it just the desire to keep exploring good whiskey. Possibly a combination of all of the above but I feel there is something deeper that gets us going … it is a passion, a passsion for whisk(e)y that seems to be ignited from those first eye opening drams and goes further that you could ever have imagined. This is the passion that keeps us driving on for more. But why … an even more puzzling question to ask is why does this simple spirit evoke such passion in people ….
My earlier years of whisky passion were similar to many of yours, so I know where you all are coming from. I am one of you!
When I first got turned on to single malts back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, whisky tastings and whisky festivals didn’t exist. And the restaurants around where I live didn’t have much to offer. So, when I traveled on business (as a scientist at the time) I would go to specialty whisky shops and just buy whiskies (with MJ’s Complete Guide To Single Malt Scotch in my hand), hoping that I would like them. Fortunately, the prices at that time were not as bad a they are now. (And I was also fortunate that sometimes I had people like Joe C. at Sam’s at the time who let me sample whiskies at his shop.)
I wanted to try as many whiskies as possible, so I bought as many as I could afford (without upsetting the wife too much). Three bottles led to 30 bottles, which somehow (???) led to 300 bottles, etc. Parlaying my passion into a legitimate business is the only thing that allowed me to justify having that many whiskies. It was for research.
It was–and still is–my intention to drink everything I own before I die. (With some help, of course.) One day, many years ago, I sat down and did the math. At the rate that I was drinking whisky, there was no way that I was going to finish them even if I lived beyond 80 years old. And that’s the day I stopped buying whisky so aggressively. Now, I only buy one or two bottles a year. They are usually whiskies that I like that I can’t get here in the U.S.
This issue of how much whisky is enough is something we all deal with (and dare I say struggle with). It’s really a compliment to the product. It’s the quality and variety of the product that keeps us coming back for more.
What with writing and talking about whisky all day, I frequently don’t want to drink it when I get home – fortunately my wife hates it otherwise that might be very different
It’s a social drink for me, so I only drink it with like-minded friends. As I tend to buy at least a couple of bottles a month, I am now running out of room to store my bottles in our very small flat. But for me it is the temptation of getting something so delicious, seeking the perfect flavour for my taste at an acceptable price. To date i have only bought multiple bottles of a handful of whiskies, either because they are not brilliant enough or because i can only afford one bottle of a particular nectar.
Tim F, my situation is similar to yours. I spend so much time writing about whisky and drinking whisky for my job, I find myself gravitating to a fine beer or wine when I am home with my wife. And while my wife doesn’t hate whisky, she would prefer wine or beer. Otherwise, like you said, it might be a different story.
For me, it’s an obsession. I am a very obsessive/compulsive person person. Not the kind that has to wash his hands 8 times a day, not that there’s anything wrong with uber-cleanliness…
I read so many whisky blogs, PR pieces, etc… that I start to obsess about this expression or that expression, etc… Then, I start searching out deals, etc… It’s just who I am.
The thing is, like Gal mentioned above, the numbers of expressions x the number of distillers (worldwide) x the number of years the liquid has been produced = a never ending (insanely expensive) journey. And, after all, isn;t that what life is about; the journey? (sans the high cost thereof)
Heck, I just laid down cash for 5 more bottles shortly after I stated that my wife has been giving me sideways glances… Ugh.
Re collecting I’m compelled to agree with JC Skinner and Irishwhiskeychaser both of whom, I can personally attest, are well-balanced Gentlemen.
A “complete” collection is practically impossible. That said, it’s difficult to say no to the voice that whispers: “just one more bottle…”
Irishwhiskeychaser hits the nail on the head when he comments on “Passion” (my ongoing Laphroaig compulsion is bordering on inconvenient).
What is it about “this simple spirit”?
Why the obsession with whisky? Simple, I like it!
I will buy a bottle for one of several reasons: I really like it and it won’t be around very long, like the Glenfarclas 1968 (I have 4 bottles in reserve); Older style bottles because of the nostalgia (I recently bought a bottle of Highland Park 18 because it was from two bottling s ago ); They are rumored for a big price increase (this summer it was rumored that the price of Talisker 18 was going to be north of $100 when restocked this fall. And although that didn’t happen I’m not sorry that I found a few extra bottles); and I like to have something that is unique(and good, of course) that not many other have, like the committee release of Ardbeg Supernova.
Whisk(e)y collectors are no different than book collectors or cigar collectors or any other compulsive that I’ve either been or met over the years. It’s just how some people are wired: they really “need” to get the latest or the most distinctive or the most rare …
Years ago, I decided to sell off a fairly huge collection of science fiction en masse. My collector friends were initially appalled that I would do this, claimed I’d never follow through, and then universally tried buying chunks of the collection from me.
I had a couple of years of compulsion-free existence and then found something else to collect.
[...] of you already confessed to your obsession. So, How many bottles of whisky do you have? You can split them up into opened and unopened if you [...]
Last year I had 82 bottles, some only had a few cm’s left and they were going off so I had to finish them off
. Now I have 37 bottles, 12 unopened, have a few minis too as well as a few sample bottles from my friend. Got a few good bottles for Xmas that were opened and sampled there and then. Slainte
I’ve not see one above mention the the most basic of human nature here – for many (where I come from) it’s an investment and an matter of “my collection is bigger and more exclusive than yours”
Boys will be boys – it’s the same thing as with cars
I’m pretty sure of this – I got 2 guys in the club desperately buying and buying – I’ve almost stopped, but I’m letting them spend now…
curiosity about the variable tastes and smells.
Good question and I don’t know. I just like to taste as many whiskies as possible, taste the differences and I like the culture and the land of Scotland. I really like the whole package.
For me there are two reasons that stand out.
One, I’m in the dead center of Pennsylvania, an incredibly backward control state, an hour and a half from the nearest border, and three hours plus from a border city large enough to have liquor stores with a good selection. Whenever I break out, I tend to stock up with stuff I can never get at home, which leads to hoarding. Binge collecting, MADD would call it.
Two, I have a historical bent toward whiskey, and I try to acquire rare bottles (in my modest price range)whenever I can…internet, antique shops, private collectors. Not easy, and very infrequent, but that pursuit has paid off on occasion with bottles that I have savored and shared for years afterward.
There are other reasons, sure. Whiskey tends to be a guy thing, and I’m a whiskey guy. No offense intended, ladies. My wife likes whiskey (straight), but women like her (and you) are few and far between. Whiskey is a social thing. Good whiskey makes good friends. When someone shows up to say hi and I can offer them a good pour from the stash that they’d never have experienced otherwise, it’s always a good time.
I’d go on, but I need a whiskey…hmmm, which one?
I would have to say that I like whiskey for the challenge of finding something new, a whiskey that I haven’t had before or a style that is intriguing. I love talking to my customers and gathering opinions… then making a good informed decision based on that. It’s fun when I have a customer come back in and ask me “So, what did you think of the ’09 Will Weller?”, or “If you liked this, then you should try that.”
I bet you my other half would just assume I not talk to my customers at all…
[...] John also asks why are we all so obsessed with whisky? [...]
yossi, i can more than sympathize with you my friend! after i posted my new year’s resolution on this blog (and made a promise to my wife that i wouldn’t buy any more whiskey in 2009), right before the new year (or right after – can’t remember), i ran into a stash of premium bourbon and i got the bottles – they are currently at another location so i won’t catch grief from wifey. in about a week or so, i will have miraculously found some nice bourbon that was hidden away at some some liquor store
why the obsession? i enjoy whisk(e)y – always have. as i’ve gotten more experienced, i want to taste and experience the different expressions. unfortunately, due to the limited numbers of some of the tastier expressions, i buy at a single time more bottles than i can drink. if bottles of btac or pappy were always available, i doubt i’d have more than a handful of bottles at my house at any given time. however, that is not the case. demand for premium bourbon has gone up (as has the price) and they are definitely much more difficult to get than they used to be (say 11 years ago when i first got into bourbon vs. scotch).
Greetings: hopefully this doesn’t sound too corny.
Why Whisky? Because it tasted good! It may be because whisky is a taste we learn to appreciate, (part of growing up (not old) in a way) rather than something we enjoy and then grow out of, each new bottle offering a new combination of aromas and flavors to stimulate the taste-buds.
Its fun searching out the just the right bottling and buying it, or bidding on it and winning! Then finding the right occasion and/or friends to open the bottle and see if the effort and money was worth it, (it usually is, though there have been a few that have ended up in the holiday eggnog).
I will add my vote to those above that if more single malt cask strength whiskies were bottled in 20cl bottles it would take more of the stress out of trying to choose which bottle(s) to buy and deciding when to open them too!
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good whiskey is barely enough.”
(Mark Twain)
As a wine drinker it’s hard to store wine whereas whisky is easy. A lot of California homes don’t have basements or rooms with a steady climate. I own a fully stocked 60 bottle wine refrigerator but considering my wife does not drink I don’t drink as much as I’d like. Sure, it does work to my advantage because it allows me to age bottles I would otherwise drink if I had someone to share with. I could vacuum the bottle but who knows if I’ll have time or a decent enough meal to fully appreciate it the next day. Odds are if I don’t drink the bottle in a night it goes in the fridge for future cooking. It’s sacrilege for some great bottles!
With whisky it’s easy to store here in California despite the hectic summers. I have my unopened inventory in the coolest, darkest part of my closet (all in boxes) and the opened bottles clearly displayed. I can manage 5-10 opened bottles easily and without fear of deterioration. Then you factor my love and appreciate of whisky which is another page of commenting…
The addictive, obsessive-compulsive element in collecting can’t be denied in my case. A crave to have and to hold and to behold, even more than to drink. And because I hate to eat my cake and not have it, I usually buy two bottles (particularly in the case of limited releases), so I can defer that dreaded moment of the final drop.
Plus the unending quest for the perfect dram which just might be that one release I decided not to get.
But why WHISKY for me (and not whiskey or cognac or rum or whatever)?. That has to do with my story which takes me back to the late 1970s: a training in the hotel business acquainted me with Scotch (only blends then); two InterRail trips to Scotland made me fall in love with the country; and then watching a TV production on a R.L. Stevenson novel with a glass of Chivas Regal in hand made the spell complete.
Now I know no other beverage with such huge variety of expressions and also depth and subtlety of flavors. The whole process from barley to mature spirit for me is a paradigm for life itself. And when in my private tastings for friends I watch others become infected with that same ‘disease’ – how can I not be obsessed with whisky? Water of life indeed!
Things were rough before I set a limit on the number of open bottles. Putting my better bottles in a modified wine refrigerator, set to 66, solved most of my problems. It only fit 9.
For me, it’s because I love whiskey of all type and always look for new and exciting things to try. With a shortage of good whiskey bars in Atlanta I am resigned to fill my needs through purchases. It’s just the cross I carry.
I probably buy more bottles than I can reasonably drink, even after sharing with friends. But if that means I buy “too many”, I know exactly what drives me to do so. It’s looking for that perfect dram, while recognizing that “perfect” changes its meaning constantly.
Sometimes I want a really smoky peaty Scotch, or a top-shelf bourbon, or a microdistilled rye. Sometimes I just want plain old Evan Williams or Canadian Club. It all depends on my mood, who I’m with, what I’m having for dinner, how hot or cold it is outside, and about a million other factors.
So for me, it’s not about being able to drink everything I buy. It’s about being able to look over the collection, spot the bottle of EXACTLY what I want “right now”, and pour myself a glass of it. And knowing full well that the next day, I might want something totally different.
At least, that’s my rationalization, and I’m sticking to it!
I have a decent sized bar close to 150 bottles and I do have a few collectables like skull shaped bottle of vodka and a another of black death vodka but when it comes to whisky a good percentage is given way to my obsession and ended up in my bar but collecting is unheard of I may save the empty bottles if they are 1 of a kind or special editions or shapes but anything that tickles my tongue just the right way is going to be devoured and if its just a little below my standards I tend to lean to saving those bottles for company as I have found the bottles I enjoy most tend to be limited bottlings so I have to say while I am a big time collector whisky is not 1 of the things I tend to collect there may be a bottle or 2 in reserve but good whisky is meant to be drank and I do enjoy the pleasure of sipping a fine whisky anytime I feel the urge thank you for letting me ramble but I think I hear a bottle of JACK DANIELS GOLD MEDAL calling me and forgive me but I must indulge CHEERS!
It started with JW Black, then Macallan, then it was, and remains, all about Islay and the islands. The sheer variety and joy of discovery doesn’t dull with time – hence the continuous exploration.
You know you have an issue when you are vacationing in FL with the family and stumble across a few bottles of Diageo’s Rare Malts in a retailer and start emailing people in Sweden
Coming to whisky from drinking wine for many years, single malt and bourbon and rye are profoundly deep but on some level “understandable” universes.
Red @35: you must now have a pretty “cool” collection.
Well, considering you used my quote I guess I should clarify and say that yes, I spent a lot on whiskey in 2009…but I could afford it and enjoyed every drop of it. So while I was surprised at the dollar amount, I will probably spend more in 2010. I like to try some of the limited release whiskeys and they tend to run more money. Here’s to a great 2010 trying new whiskey!!!
I read in an autobiography of Robert Mondavi that he was quoated as saying that “Wine to me is passion. It’s family and friends. It’s warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It’s culture. It’s the essence of civilization and the art of living.”
I think that could easly be applied to Whiskeys. What’s better than enjoying a good dram with friends, sharing stories, evoking certain feelings associated with the flavors of the whiskey. The depth and range of flavors give whiskey it’s reason for being explored the way we do. They are called “spirits” for a reason!
Salute,
Jason
I think that part of the reason,obviously, is that in order to try a lot of the new whiskeys on the market you have to fork over some serious cash. Most of the new releases are over 50 and most over a 100 dollars a bottle. That can add up quickly.