This is my first time posting to this group and may be the last. It bothers me that people who all share a common love of scotch whisky can get so pissy about who says what on which web site and who knows more about whisky than someone else.
I have been a member of the PLOWED group for several years and consider the people I have met there to be among my finest and closest friends. My first inclination is to conclude that despite the obvious things we have in common with the alt.drinks group our personalities and the ways in which we interact with one another are completely different.
As with most groups of people there are usually one or two that define the attitudes of the group. The fact that this is NOT the case in PLOWED is one of the things I like most about it. I would hope that many of the alt.drinks people are not that unlike the PLOWED group but it is obvious that the more vocal alt.drinks people are nothing like the PLOWED people.
Therefore I would suggest that the alt.drinks people stay on their site and the PLOWED people stay on their site. I hope that the day when we can all interact together is not far off.
Welcome to the group and I hope it's not your last post.
Few people here get pissy about who says what, and few claim to know more about whisky than anyone else, even if they if fact do know more than most. I, for one, am grateful for the insights of the well informed posters, and have learned a lot here. It is useful to remember the difference between a question of fact, which admits to a right and a wrong answer, and matters of opinion which do not. Most of what gets discussed are opinions, and it doesn't hurt to regard it *all* as no more than someone's opinion.
I am not a member of PLOWED, but thought that "The Ord's Prayer" was worth multiple deep belly laughs...
I'm not clear what you mean by this. That PLOWED is not defined by a few leaders while a.d.s-w is? I'd have to think the opposite of a.d.s-w; it's the nature of USENET that it is open to one and all. No one is in control. Not even the group's founders can steer the group at all except by the force of their personalities - a force seldom (if ever) consciously used for that purpose. As to the "more vocal a.d.s-w people", it's been rather quiet in here lately. Even when the group is active there are seldom over a dozen posts in a day. Which is to say, no one here is terribly vocal. (Although I'm a little "wordy").
I hope more PLOWED people post here, as often as they like, because they seem to have a love of whisky, are knowledgible, and (usually) possesed of a sense of humor; but leave whatever intramural disputes they have among themselves behind. Regulars here don't know what this is all about, or why it's spilling over into a newsgroup with an admirable record of staying on topic, more or less.
One more thing would be of help: some instructions as to how to get a glimpse into these other malt communities.
To be truthful, I don't think my needs often go beyond this news group. My malt budget, my level of expertise and my time for talking about malts are all limited. I read the malt and Islay Yahoo discussion groups for a time (there's two more communities for you) but gave them up because time was wanting, plus I found myself a little out of my depth, both in terms of expertise and access to a wide range of malts.
But from time to time it would be fun and instructive to be able to look in on the discussions of some of these folks (anoraks, even) and see what they're drinking, and what they're saying about it.
So here's my question: Are there Web sites, archived posts or other means where a person can lurk and browse to get a feel for these communities, without making a commitment to join up?
For example, a quick google search locates the malt maniacs:
formatting link
Are there equally simple ways of getting a glimpse into the other communities you have listed?
I just wanna know if everyone will send me their colored malts for disposal still.
Seriously, for me this has always been a friendly group, and compared to other groups I read, basically troll free (except for the Doc and I think he thinks he means wells..or something like that).
So ignore trolls when they6 appear or use the handy "Block sender" feature in your Message options.
So will anyone send me their colored malts for disposal (me and a few friends)?
I've been to a few Whiskyfest type events and always felt that the three or four hours they schedule limits the number of drams one can reasonably enjoy and evaluate in the manner a 15-40 yo malt demands, but when the price of admission is nearly $100 and doesn't include transportation and perhaps the added expense of a hotel room for the night, the natural instinct is to try and "get your moneys worth". This is why we at The PLOWED Society came up with our own spin on an ultimate Whiskyfest in the year 2000.
I have attended all four years of Ardbeggeddon in Las Vegas-
!) There are typically well over 150 bottles of rare and unusual malts available to all who are invited.
@) Attendance is limited to about two dozen individuals each of whom is obligated to bring bottles worthy of glowing admiration, if not outright envy. This is the only "rule".
#) One is not encouraged nor expected to try every single offering. This would be impossible. Drunks, punks and greedy gulpers are never be extended an invite.
$) Most attendees try between 15-25 drams a day. Small drams. I usually pour between 10-20mls of most malts. Flights of similar or contrasting malts can be done over several sessions throughout the day with meals, Foafing excursions and other entertainments in between.
Yes, this IS a lot of drinking, but with vitamin B-1, pacing and some common sense I throughly enjoy each and every drop over the course of a 12-16 hour day.
%) Some people actually dram very few in total and simply come for the charming, scintilating conversation of the intelligent characters who attend.
^) The overwhelming majority of those who attend are now close friends and make efforts to travel long distances to keep these friendships intact and vital.
Regards,
-FX (Proud to be PLOWED (patent pending))
whiskies >with only two days to work my way through them seems like an ever bigger >travesty. I could never do an Ardbegeddon selection justice and would end up >with vague recollections of whiskies that deserve more than just a passing >moment on my palate. I would also have a hard time justifying the airfare and >money spent on such a weekend when there so many whiskies just begging to be >charged to my credit cards... ;o)
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.