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Lockdown
or
Falling
in Love again
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Photo by Whisky Emporium photography, Mask by Meinfoto.de |
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At the end of
last year the first cases of Coronavirus (later renamed
Covid19) were starting to be reported mainly in China but this
soon spread around the world eventually being defined as a
pandemic. As I write this article in May 2020 there's still no
known cure or even innoculation against it, although solutions
are constantly being worked on and trialled.
Different
countries reacted in different ways but eventually most
enforced some kind of lockdown, restricting people's movements
and even enforcing the closure of many businesses.
I work in Munich
airport for Lufthansa selling luxury and premium goods but
by mid-March there was almost no business as there were no
passengers and the flights that were still operating were just
about empty. It wasn't long before we were instructed to close
the shops and stay home for what's called Kürzarbeit in German,
or short time in English.
What the hell am
I going to do with my time? Only the necessary shops are
open (food shops, chemists, Doctors) and all bars and
restaurants closed. Even my cat Shoshanna was confused and
sometimes annoyed because I was suddenly at home all day, every
day. Spring cleaning completed, a few things moved around the
home to make it a bit more comfortable .. etc .... But that took
care of only the first couple of weeks so what next?
In recent years,
4 to be exact, I've pretty well ignored my website, almost
falling out of love with it so my reviews were static around the
1300 to 1320 mark. Suddenly I had the idea (and urge) to get
back into reviewing the whisky samples I'd stockpiled over a few
years. |
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From 2012 to 2018
I visited the Limburg Whisky Fair each year and purchased many
whisky samples to bring home and try at some later point. Yes I
love the fairs in Germany as usually there's no problem filling
sample bottles rather than trying to taste everything on the day
of the festival. Sadly
many of these just sat on a shelf as I really couldn't keep up
with the number of samples accruing each year.
Lockdown, my
chance to sort them out, categorise them and start working my
way through them, but first I had to bring online the many
reviews I had hand-written and then ignored. What better excuse
for a new spreadsheet too?
The photo left
gives you some idea of the scale of my sample archive. |
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As if that's not
enough I
also still have quite a few left-overs or what I call Dregs
from my 6 years of organising The Malt Maniacs' annual Awards
competition.
Yes, they've
decreased over the years but quite a few remain. Of course the
ones I've kept are the more notable ones, in fact quite a few of
the samples you see above are from MMA 2016. |
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Then to make things
more interesting
I've been buying a few bottles online to add to my so-called
archive. Nothing expensive and I suspect not exactly
mind-blowing as they're all old blends from the 1970's through
to the 1990's. We're talking JW Red, JW Black, White Horse,
Black & White, Haig, Dewars and quite a few more. My intention
here was to invite a few Malt Mates over and open some during
what I've termed "Bring a Blend 2020" instead of
visiting Limburg this year. Sadly travel restrictions and
Lockdown have put paid to that idea for now, as they have many
gatherings and festivals. Can this be reorganised for later this
year or will it now be Bring a Blend 2021? Nobody
knows yet.
Actually the
blends I purchased were all very reasonably priced, ranging
from around €10 to the most expensive at €40 and I even splashed
out on 3 sets of miniatures totalling 24 bottles for a price of
just over €30. After some discussion with a couple of malt mates
my collection of various blends have now become known as Acrid
Old Crap but somehow I feel that only the word Old will really
be relevant, but I look forward to finding out, I think. |
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So what's the point
or conclusion
of my pontifications here? Well I'm still in contact with all my
colleagues thanks to a weekly conference call to update us with
the latest situation at work and many of them are really
struggling to cope with being permanently at home. I also see
that many of my online friends are having similar problems which
I can understand. Normal daily routines, contact with other
friends and colleagues have been thrown into turmoil and in many
cases boredom is becoming an obvious problem. As for me I'm just
making the most of the situation and in categorising my samples
in one of my infamous spreadsheets I seem to have fallen in love
(with whisky) again.
Am I
going
crazy in Lockdown, Far from it, I'm loving making the most
of my new home, the fabulous weather we're currently
experiencing and of course falling in love with whisky and my
website again. I tend to taste one or sometimes two
whiskies each evening, writing my notes in a book then I bring
one or maybe two reviews online each weekday. As for my books
I'm just about to finish volume 6 and have already prepared
volume 7 for action. This rejuvenation has seen my
Dram-o-meter or number of online reviews increase from
that static 1300-ish to over 1400 within a month. 1450 and
possibly even 1500 are now within sight, but of course I'll have
to return to work at some point soon, maybe during July as
retirement is still a good 6 years away.
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Spreadsheets, sorting samples, volume 7 - am I just a sad old
git? Quite probably but I'm happy that way. Slàinte Mhath and
stay safe. |
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A
selection of previous Dram-atics highlights
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Coming eventually
(postponed due to
Covid-19)
"Bring a Blend 2020"
Or will it be 2021? |
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The Malt
Maniacs Awards - MMA |
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Dec.
2010 |
December's Advent-urous drams,
Nant Distillery,
The road to Certification |
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Nov. 2010 |
Journey to end of Scotverse,
Wick,
Pulteney,
Balblair,
Knockdhu,
Homecoming,
Tweetup,
Chilling with Cooley |
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Oct.
2010 |
The John Walker,
Sampling with Master of Malts,
Changing jobs,
Whisky Round Table |
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Sept.
2010 |
Playing Chinese whispers,
Oktoberfest,
SMWS Spirit Cellar,
500,000 |
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August
2010 |
Elementary my dear Islay,
Handbags at dawn,
Dram-arkable 500,
Cheapo Challenge,
Ah Dooagh,
1 from 3 left |
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July
2010 |
Age
matters. A series of whisky reviews concentrating upon 'Age' |
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June
2010 |
Jules
Rimet, pickles & crisps.
Mon coeur, mon amour oh mon sherry.
A
taste of the great outdoors. |
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May
2010 |
The
highly-acclaimed and record-breaking "Desert Island Drams" |
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April
2010 |
My
peat's bigger than your peat,
A foursome with a famous Scottish
bird |
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March
2010 |
Sample
Mania tasting notes,
The Good, the Bad & The Loch Dh-Ugly,
A return to sanity,
The Choice of Managers |
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Jan-Feb
2010 |
Keep
taking the medicine,
It's Festival time,
Maker's Mark,
Sleeveless in Munich |
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Dec. 2009 |
All
power to bean-counters,
protecting Scotch,
seasonal drams,
Definitive Xmas Drams,
2009 Whisky Awards |
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Nov. 2009 |
How it
all started,
Bonfire night,
Autumnal musings,
EU Tax & Duty,
What's in a (whisky) name? |
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2009-2020 by Keith Wood - All rights reserved - Whisky-Emporium |
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