New Year Highs and Lows

 

 

The winter Chill is the sign that we are coming to the end of the year, for some it is the Summer heat that signals the end of the year, however in my neck of the woods it’s that winter chill, so as the year draws to a close and with the holidays looming it gives us a chance to reflect on the year gone and plan for the year coming.

I started to write this early December but due to work commitments I was unable to complete it until now, so here goes, I prepared questions regarding Whisky, then shared it with some friends and got some interesting and varied answers, let’s see what I get back here from the blog.

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My 8 Big Freeze, yearend Questions:

1. Did you make the progress you wanted this year with your malts?
   Has it been a grind, or a challenging (but enjoyable) year?
2. If you step back, look at your collection, what was the worst purchase of 2013?
3. What was your best purchase in 2013?
4. What was your favourite Malt in 2013?
5. What Whisky did you think was over marketed and ended up deflated in the bottle?
6. What is the one most thing that upsets you in the Whisky industry?
7. Did you over indulge?
8. What could you personally do differently if you had the power to make changes to the Whisky industry in 2014?

My Own Reflections

For me, 2013 was probably the first year that I really put my head down and tried, getting involved in some Drams that were memorable and some not.

 

So as I reflect on 2013, which I do every year, in all areas my personal life, work life and Dramnation, I’d say that it’s been a challenging year, but that I finish the year inspired by what I achieved, I am excited about 2014, or at least that what the Fung Shui master told me (this will be another blog entry)..One thing I do know for sure I will never be a writer……..

 

At this moment I’m in Hong Kong, going through the festive season and preparing for Chinese New Year, Hong Kong is a fascinating city, sadly in terms of Whisky it is not as exciting or at least not as exciting as other countries but you have to make the most of what you have and here we have some great wee bars like this one, so a wee shout out too +Gm TheCannyMan . Through the year I have had some great Drams, been to some great tastings.

 

For me the biggest highlight of the year was the KAVALAN tasting, it was the most interesting, the most controversial and talked about tasting ever. I will be doing a small mini series on +Ian Chang and the distillery.

 

So let’s see what 2014 brings us.

 

Happy New Year!