Digital Drinking: Whisky Resources

Photo: Mikey Philips (CCL)

The world of whisky can be a very daunting and overwhelming place - there is so much to know and the information can at times be quite disparate and even conflicting.

There are certain places that are must-visits if you want to learn more about whisky, get news about the latest releases or just be a little entertained.

Whisky Intelligence

This is a blog that is focused on press releases related to whisky, whiskey and bourbon. It's is a great way to find out what is coming out soon, get early reviews and also to find out about events coming up at various shops.

Photo from Loughborough University library

This is really quite straightforward, without a whole lot of flowery writing as it is mostly press releases, it can be quite business-like, but it really is terrific. Note, however, that this is a bit of an international feed and so it will feature lots of information that is more pertinent to consumers in the USA.

/r/Scotch

Reddit is quite honestly my favourite website on the internet - there is so much going on, it's hugely diverse with tons of mini-forums and communities covering the whole gamete. If you want information on anything it will be on Reddit and if anything noteworthy happens across the globe you are almost certain to find report of it there first.

The scotch subreddit is great for finding lots of reviews, but also simple beginners guides and also suggestions of whiskies to buy. If you have any particular questions then just join and post a topic.

Whisky Fun

This is great for real in-depth analysis, side by side comparisons and a little light-hearted fun. This site is linked to Malt Maniacs, another well respected site which has some of the biggest names in whisky contributing. Whisky fun features lots of small batch and independent release reviews and also branches out to rum, brandy and tequila. All this plus cartoons!

Ralfy

How can one describe Ralfy? He is a power unto himself: unique, characterful, eccentric, opinionated, knowledgeable, funny, simply terrific. Ralfy started out doing a standard whisky blog I believe, but has moved over to posting videos on Youtube for whisky reviews, whisky knowledge and then one-off features for rum, absinthe etc.

He talks candidly about the industry, its past and future, and his opinions on the whiskies produced. Ralfy does tend to ramble, but this makes the videos all the better, for easy to digest, interesting and entertaining whisky information there is no one better on Youtube.

Below is featured Ralfy picking his top whisky of the year 2012

These are the main places I go to get the majority of my info for scotch. From these, I am able to see what's coming out, find out what other consumers think and also discover what experts think - perfect.