Whisky Sponge on Ralfy 'Macallan' Mitchell

@Wierdo - I'm a big fan of satire and cutting through the crap and no-one in the whisky world does it better. It's like Viz for whisky fans.

And I think I'm correct that The Sponge is Serge's sidekick Angus from Whiskyfun. Everyone in on that loop?

@MadSingleMalt You are correct.

@MadSingleMalt Sponge is Angus? I didn't know that.

I must admit I love Serge's sense of humour. He's not constantly funny. But he drops these dry little one-liners that crease me up. He said something in one of his reviews to apologise for not doing a review for a while saying 'just remember we only have one reviewer here on Whiskyfun and that reviewer only has one liver'! (This was pre-Angus joining Whiskyfun). But stuff like that I love.

Regards Ralfy I was brought his book for Christmas. I'm about halfway through it. It's not at all what I thought it would be. It's an autobiography that focuses on his life in his whisky drinking years. If I'd have known that was what it was I wouldn't have asked for it but I'm actually quite enjoying it. He's no Cormac McCarthy but that laid back conversational style he has on camera converts quite well into a written style. And a lot of the book which is to do with the beginnings of his whisky journey is happening in a period of time just before the whisky boom and so a little before I got into it. So that in itself is quite interesting.

@MadSingleMalt - I had no idea but it makes a lot of sense now you say that! I was reading an old one yesterday about old bottle effect. Had me in stitches!

@RianC I found it hard to believe that the Angus, the serious reviewer on Whiskyfun and the Sponge were one and the same. Quite the creative mind.

I really used to enjoy Ralfy. I just listened to his Whisky of the Year program. It read like a big commercial at the beginning. Ralfy was plugging his book and Patreon and his YouTube channel, you name it. The whole Ralfy thing has turned into a big business it seems. Kindly leave the plugs and begging towards the end of the episode please Ralfy.

@DaveM - Can't blame him though, can you? And I think if any whisky vlogger deserves a bit of a reward for his efforts over the years then ralfy is that man. There are far too many hipster types, copy-cats and utter bores filling up the whisky vlog niche - ralfy is the real deal and 'the Don!'

That said, I agree, and from a purely entertainment perspective he's lost his edge for sure. He's like an old uncle you used to love and have fun with but now he just chews your ear off with re-told tales and rants about how good things used to be You still love him though ...

Speaking of Mr Sponge, if you haven’t seen this or part 2 yet, you really must. It’s hilariously on point.

Long live the Sponge.

@RianC I agree that there are too many Ralfy copycats online these days. Concerning his various episodes, I find myself skipping to the end and seeing what his rating mark is. I don’t need to hear the bulk of his meanderings.

@DaveM But then you miss out on valuable public health information such as screening for prostate cancer...

"...just my opinion, malt mates, just sayin"

@DaveM Ralfy lost me when he went from whisky geek to guru.

@Nozinan You are right. Somewhere along the line Ralfy became a full fledged Doctor!

@DaveM I agree his whisky of the year video was embarrassing. I think general YouTube content provider etiquette dictates you can mention patreon at the beginning and end of the video. Ralfy must have mentioned his 'patreon pals' 20 times at least during the video. It was cringy.

@DaveM @Wierdo He's starting to sound like those TV evangelists: "praise the lord and send the money."

Well Ralfy is in good company with all the celebrities and tech moguls telling us to get vaccinated. Since when did they have degrees in immunology.

@Frost To be fair, the overwhelming majority of those with degrees in immunology will tell people to get vaccinated too.

@OdysseusUnbound @Frost Yeah, I don't think you need a medical degree to suggest vaccination... all you need is common sense!

@talexander To get one however.... you need patience. Lot of patience...

You lot our now in good company with Ralfy too. For the record, not against the vaccine, it was part of my point:.is there any use in continually bringing up Ralfy's wacky medical advice. It was not sensible and he has been called on it.

Or shall we bully him until the end of time.

@Nozinan Or enough money to fly to a remote village and claim you’re an essential worker.

@OdysseusUnbound We can only hope that nobody will give that appallingly self centred pair of shit balls their follow up shot and they have to start again when their turn comes up.

@Nozinan - Haven't you got that backwards? Don't you need patients to give it to? Lots of patients?

... I'll see myself out

Slightly off topic but as a health worker I had my first dose of the vaccine a month ago (pfizer). No major side effects other than a dead arm.

Maybe unconnected but my mobile phone signal has improved immensely since.

5G wherever I go....

@Wierdo The second Pfizer shot will kill more than your arm...

@Nozinan Did you get the second one, or are you still waiting? patti's 2nd shot has been delayed, she has no idea when she'll get it at this point.

@talexander As I said, lots of patience.....

I got #2, and it made me exhausted for a weekend. Too fatigued even to drink whisky!

@Wierdo - You'll know it's worked properly when you can answer calls by touching your temple.