But the point is, whisky's not for some elite group, or just guys named Hamish, wearing kilts and smoking a cigar. In my experience, it can be for anybody (of legal age, obviously) who's interested.
Whisky tastes like the land and the water and the air of the places where the barley was grown, the wood of the barrels where the whisky aged. Whisky starts as an idea in a distiller's head and eventually becomes a complex taste of nature and craft, what the old Celts called "the water of life."
My job is to help you love it as much as I do! Your tastes will vary, and I'm more than OK with that. Once, I had the good fortune to spend some time in the Lagavulin distillery, on a tour led by Iain McArthur. We were tasting some really incredible old whiskies, and one of my co-tourists, taking a sip of one of the drams said, "Am I getting a note of coffee in the end?"
Iain, a true whisky saint, looked at the well-meaning Englishman and said, "How do I know? You're the one feckin' drinkin' it, laddie!"
That was the moment of true enlightenment for me. People get particular about the whisky they drink (just as they do wine, beer, coffee and the rest) and that's ok. But the main thing is simply this:
You're the one feckin' drinkin' it, laddie. Or lassie.
We're here to have fun, drink some whisky, occasionally disagree, and probably say a few things we'll regret tomorrow.
Sound like a party? It does to me. Let's go, my children.
