The Scotch Blog

Single Malt is now free...

Singlemalt.tv that is.

Effective Monday April 30th Singlemalt.tv is free to air. The channel opened more than 200 VOD's to all comers and will be implementing added functionality, a member competition of global proportions and a dedicated Mac user section.  Mac users will soon have download capability of H264 Quicktime Hi Def clips AND clips encoded for iPod.

The channel is embarking on an aggressive production schedule this Summer/Autumn with special features being filmed in Spain/USA, Russia, China, Japan and Tibet. Special features will be available on the channel in Pay-per-view format but everything else will be free.

Singlemalt tv is also in the final stages of preparation for a rollout on ALL mobile devices in SE Asia, China and India. This will allow users to view the channel on mobile phones, PDA's, in Taxi's, buses, subways and in China on cable TV.

I did question how long the subscription model could last (or IF it would work) back in September 2006 after the launch...

It's Burns Night!

Tonight, all over the world people of Scottish heritage will celebrate Burns Night.

Below are some resources for you to learn more about Robert Burns, why he is celebrated and some about of the traditions associated with his night...

BBC Scotland
BBC - Food Section
Rabbie Burns.com
My Supper with Rabbie
Robert Burn.org - Burns Supper Guide
The Great British Kitchen
How to organise a Burns Supper
Scotland is the Place

Some of the worst haggis I've ever had has been at a Burns supper, but it's more about the opportunity to get together with others and celebrate your heritage.

Even if you are not of Scottish lineage - it's a great time. If you are looking for a Burns Supper in your part of the world, try Google. you might be surprised what shows up.

Whisky Blog Graveyard

It's amazing how cough medicine will make your mind wander.

In my case it made me think of all the emails I've received from people telling me how they were searching the Internet, found my site and want to "exchange links". Or how some budding Michael Jackson wants to announce, with great fanfare, that he has launched the greatest "whisky blog" since... well you fill in the rest.

Sitting home sick on a Saturday gave me some time to do something I rarely have time for...checking out the (horribly named) blogosphere to see what else is out there.

I guess this looks easy - coming up with new stories - sometimes 3 or more a week. Serge certainly makes it look easy - he makes me look like a slacker with multiple posts a day. Where does he get the time to drink all that whisky...and THEN write??? :)

But seriously this really is a lot of work...as many people find out. Especially if you choose to do a bit more than simply repost news stories from other sources (I never quite understood why someone thinks there's a value in that). But I digress courtesy of NyQuil.

Some of the sites I came across have an interesting viewpoint. Some are excellent writers. Some of them abuse the English language and shouldn't be allowed near a keyboard. Most of them didn't last very long.

Goodbye Whisky 101

Almost a year ago to the day (January 16th, 2006) I announced Whisky101, a new forum for the discussion of whisky and other adult beverages.

Why?

Mostly because I notice that the existing forums, while a great place to find like-minded folks, tend  to be co-opted by the "whisky-know-it-all." They don't present a forum for the novice to feel comfortable asking questions.

But we faced problems right from the start:

• I was using a free hosting service which proved to be incredibly unreliable. I realize how hard it is to participate in something if you are not sure it is up from day-to-day.
• The free hosting came at a cost - advertising embedded in the threads. Thoroughly obnoxious.
• Back-ups were disabled. The free hosting provider didn't want people walking away and taking all of their intellectual property I guess.

I figured it was a nice experiment, but doomed to fade away - even though the occasional person stumbled across it and registered.

A few weeks ago I received an email from Graeme Wallace who asked if I'd be interested in working with him to set up a forum for an online magazine he is developing. I said yes, and we've spent the past week or so getting it ready for you.

We are ready to announce the Fine Expressions forum.
The URL is forum.fineexpressions.co.uk (make sure you remember the .co.uk!)

The format is quite similar to the old Whisky101 to start with - and I'll be making changes based on your suggestions. And unlike other sites, there's no reward for posting - no ranks achieved by making post after post.

So give it a shot. Register. Start posting.
Do it now before all the really goofy login names are taken.

Article on Glenrothes 1979

Someone emailed me to let me know that there was an article about Scotch in Men’s Vogue.

Men’s Vogue?!?!? That isn't really a magazine, is it?

Regardless, there was a link - and the link is real - the author of the story was part of a group invited to sit down with Ronnie Cox (Director of the Glenrothes) and go through a tasting of the Glenrothes line, capped with a dram of the "new" 1979 Single Cask.

Aside from the inexplicable “whiskey” spelling (usually the work of the ill-informed editor), there was one iffy statement:

“A $1,000 dollar bottle is actually not that outrageous these days: Last year a South Korean collector paid close to $75,000 for a bottle of 1926 Macallan.”

A fine example of logical fallacy - just because some fool paid $75,000 doesn’t make $1,000 “not that outrageous”. But I’ll forgive the author for hyperbole.

Aside from those small issues, the article is extremely well written and quite informative.

Check it out: Single—and loving it

St. Andrew's Day

Happy St. Andrew's Day!

Laphroaig is recycling their St.Andrew's site again, so I thought I'd recycle last year's story.

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Laphroaig seems to be developing quite a sense of humor. Is it new owner Fortune/Jim Beam, or was it always there bubbling just below the surface? Maybe Bruichladdich's quirky sense of humor is coming cross island.

Who knows, but they make some damn fine whisky. Heck, there's nothing from Islay that I don't like (nice double negative, huh?), but Laphroaig just holds a special place in my heart.

DrinkShoot?

Announcing "DrinkShoot", a new concept in Spirit, Wine & Beer writing - think of it as an "online magazine" for alcohol.

We thought we'd gather some of the more interesting things going on in the world of online adult beverage writing and gather them in one place for your convenience.

Please check it out...www.drinkshoot.com

Good stuff from Whisky School

Whisky School is written by James Thomson (who also is the principal behind LadyBank distillery, and is a Scotch/Internet pioneer who started Scotchwhisky.com as well as the Islay Whisky Society) and Gordon Wright (one of the original investors in Bruichladdich), though James does the bulk of the posts.

This is one of the few whisky related sites I visit regularly.

You'll always get a good perspective - they are full believers in the No B.S. philosophy.

Here, for example, is today's story which comments on the continuing pattern from "They who must not be named"; And is a sterling example of the type of commentary you can expect from Whisky School...

SingleMalt.tv

On September 29th, an interesting new site will kick off - that's the day that SingleMalt.tv launches.

Not really "television", it's an online channel - which is, in my estimation, the next logical step for the integration of infotainment and edumedia.

From the press release:

SINGLEMALT.tv is an Internet Protocol Television channel (IPTV) hosted by Narrowstep (UK), one of the world’s leading IPTV service providers. An IPTV channel brings video  programming directly to the desktop or laptop via the Internet. Viewers who visit www.singlemalt.tv have access to programming 24 hours a day with scheduled events and video on demand including news, features and ongoing series, all drawn from the world of Scotch.

I drink other things

Today's story isn't here. It's at Liquor Snob...  because it is not about Scotch.