Welcome to my blog.
I have wanted to start a blog for sometime but words don’t tend to get from my brain to paper or screen very easily. I was never interested in language or literature at school and have always been a numbers person.
So after years of procrastinating I want to push myself into getting some thoughts down, share some photos, words and hopefully some Whisky with you all.
Where to start – Lets start at the beginning (or in this case the end of the road). A place I love to visit and enjoy not only the sheer beauty of the surroundings but the peace and quiet, lack of digital interference (No internet here!) and that link back to nature.
Balnakeil Bay just past Durness really is the end of the road. Wonderful white sands and electric blue seas on a sunny day. Busy on the summer weekends but if you are lucky enough to go on a warm sunny day in May or early June you can often have the whole beach to yourself as we did on the day of the photo.
So my journey has a great starting place, albeit a fair way away from any distilleries (i think on a good day with no traffic you would be hard pressed to get to any even Wolfburn in under 3 hours).
Fear not i am aiming to get to visit, sample or investigate as many as i can and hope you will join me on the journey.
I have always enjoyed whisky from an early age. I have tended to stick to my usual suspects and never really thought of exploring the vast array of tastes and smells that the various distilleries have to offer.
My taste buds have changed a lot in recent years. After years of being a smoker i quit a few years back so the smokey islay drams i liked so much seemed to be too much for my palate. I switched to the sherry bombs of speyside. However i have changed my diet (need to lose a fair few lbs) to a low carb diet – meaning cutting right back on sugary stuff. This has changed my taste buds even more so even something like a carrot tastes very sweet to me now.
This has led me to start my whisky trek again from the beginning. It is a great time to be exploring the complexities different whiskies can offer. New finishing casks, new distilleries and the re awakening of some lost ones is very exciting. Easier access to bottlings from around Scotland and further afield will hopefully aid in my journey.
I have been thinking of a way to cover the long list of distilleries and tick them off on the way. I do have a few different bottlings and have tried many more over the years but i am going to start from scratch.
I think if i start with the SMWS list as reference and make my way through. Not necessarily trying the SMWS versions (good that they are) and not in their order but whatever bottles i have in or see on my travels/surfings. See the Whisky Checklist for my progress.
So every few weeks (when the day job isn’t too busy) I will be doing some investigations on a particular distillery, see what the history and current production is. Also, finding a bottle to taste and review. I am trying to find some non standard stuff from each distillery where possible, hopefully ones you haven’t had before. Then do a mini write up to my blog.
As whisky is always better shared and i would love to get your reviews on these drams as well. I am going to be sharing a handful of drams from each bottle for your thoughts. It will also help me with my tasting notes and review style.
Thank you for reading and there will be some good stuff online soon.
Stewart
StewedWhisky 