The Green Malt

The Green Malt… A malt that’s only just begun to germinate, just begun its journey to fermentation.  I kinda liked the imagery and comparison to how I feel about my own adventures in the wide world of whisky.

I’m not that far removed from pouring bar rail schlock over ice and actually hoping not to taste what was in my glass.  Times have changed…

I was lucky enough to spend the better part of two weeks puttering around Scotland with my wife last summer, and that was it for me.  I could spend ages going on about that trip, from the country’s raw natural beauty, to the wonderful people, to the whisky shops of the Royal Mile, and of course… the distilleries!  It made it official…. I became a true malt-head!

Maybe not the most earth-shattering change in my life, but a change nonetheless, and significant given my personality.  When I get into something in a truly passionate way, it has a tendency to consume me.  I’m driven by a compulsive need to be the absolute best, and most knowledgeable, I can be about it.  Not the best mind you (I’m not quite that arrogant), but certainly my best.

So… with this mindset, I came back home to Canada determined; driven to learn as much as I could as quickly as I could.  To develop my own palette and meet other, like-minded enthusiasts.  I quickly discovered Ralfy, Hurst Luening, and any number of extremely detailed and well-written blogs on the subject of whisky and fine spirits.  My respect for them knows no bounds, but it also made it painfully obvious how poor my ability to nose, taste and analyze the constituent elements of whisky are.  There’s only one way to improve these abilities, and it’s through experience!  Trial and error!

My whisky collection in general has expanded exponentially since returning home, and it’s led me to another realization: The LCBO sucks!  Well, to be fair they have their redeeming qualities as well (great return policy!), but, man, do we ever get on price and selection of imported spirits.  There are numerous underlying reasons for this, but I’m talk about those in a future post (along with my fist-shaking rage about our own domestic distilling laws).  But for the moment, suffice it to say that my wallet has suffered a rude awakening along with any whisky-related ego I may have once had.

And ultimately this has all led me to creating this site…  I want to share my thoughts on various whiskies in a way that makes sense to other people in my shoes, other new enthusiasts that are in the early stages of their whisky journey.  At the same time I wanted a forum to discuss the frustrations and hurdles present to any enthusiast living in Ontario, and hopefully find some like-minded individuals with whom to share advice and experiences.

I’m not sure where this site will go over time, but I intend to have a lot of fun (and a lot of whisky) doing it!