The first time I drank whiskey I was 16. My father took me into the lounge room and sat me down in a dark brown armchair. He placed an empty glass and a small pitcher of water on the table next to me then turned to me and said

Rule 1:
There are only two ways to drink single malt whiskey;
Neat or with a small dash of water.

My father warned me that in my life I might meet people that would suggest having ice with whiskey and that when that happened I was to say “No!”.

There were no further rules. The rest of the lesson was a dissertation on peat, distilling practices, types of barrels and the magic time plays in the creation of a good single malt whiskey.

And then there was the tasting. I immediately warmed to whiskey. However the poverty of my 20’s meant that apart from the wee drams when visiting dad it was not until my 30’s that I could venture back into the warm, enveloping world drinking whiskey creates.

After a decade of eagerly tasting whiskeys from around the world I have come to the conclusion that I can take this joy further and so I am creating this punters journal to share with interested others.

This blog is about my experiences and thoughts on whiskey. It is not intended to be instructional although I am fond of telling people how to do things regardless of my own knowledge of the subject. I welcome all who come across this blog to follow, contribute, argue or get distracted and decide to go pour themselves a drink.

Anon,
Naomi North