Who is your daddy and what does he do?

@Victor. I'm thinking it is "Big Night" the little film about the two Italian brothers who own a restaurant in New Jersey, but I can only remember the omlette scene at the end.

@BlueNote, no, this one is set in a city on the US West Coast. And here's a hint that should at least give away to someone the movie in question, if not the whisk(e)y: the actors playing the two brothers in the movie are also brothers in real life.

@BlueNote (@Nock), the city was Seattle, the movie was The Fabulous Baker Boys, and the whiskey was Old Weller Antique 107 wheated bourbon, with the old label.

Ah! Good on Victor. I remember it now. Starred the Bridges brothers, Jeff and Beau.

That should be "Good one Victor," time I got a new keyboard.

@Victor Pretty sweet my friend! I'm going to have to look that one up especially because that's my home town!! Is the movie any good?

@SquidgyAsh, oh yeah, that's a very good movie about the trade-offs and "settling" between ideals and practicality in the gritty end of the music business, and the relationship between brothers. And it's easy to like Suzie Diamond, Michelle Pfeiffer's character.

@SquidgyAsh: love the Kindergarten Cop reference! So, here goes...

Yak_Lord comes from my bizarre fascination with yaks. Gary Larson, creator of 'The Far Side', found the word 'cow' intrinsically funny, I just happen to think the same of yaks. In real life I live in a city that shall remain nameless in Ontario, Canada, and work for a tax department (not saying whether it is municipal, provincial, or federal); while I started in the tax collections office, that isn't what I do anymore (and haven't for the better part of 8 years).

I developed an interest in whisky while living in Japan (watched Bill Murray's 'Lost in Translation' shortly after coming back from Japan - if you haven't seen it, do so), but my 'malt mania' started in earnest in 2011 after I finished my MA. I prefer sherried whisky (Aberlour, Macallan, GlenDronach), but am slowly moving into Islay whiskies (Bowmore, Lagavulin, Laphroaig) as well. All in all, like SquidgyAsh, I'm not sure why I love whisky, other than the fact that with so many countries (Wales, England, India, Canada, France, Sweden, etc., etc.) now producing single malts, whisky has become an international culture unto itself; that and whisky is something that should be explored with friends (my wife, who while she encourages my interests by buying me bottles, she doesn't drink...).

As for why I decided to join Connosr, I'd been using it as a resource for reviews and other information for some time and recently thought that being part of the network would be a better way to learn more about whisky and possibly make some contacts (it is, after all, a networking site for whisky enthusiasts!).

@YakLord Glad that you like the reference my friend!!! As for the love of yaks, nothing wrong with that!! My wife has a weird fascination with buffalo for some reason. Wants to ride one when we're on holiday.

Totally awesome that your wife encourages your whisky by buying you bottles! My wife lets me spend an allowance on my whisky and then also encourages me in the tastings and my blog by occasionally buying me an insane bottle :D

Sounds like there are soooo many whisky Connosr members in Canada that one day what we need to do is a North American Connosr party where everyone shows up with a favorite bottle of theirs that they don't mind sharing. I'm hoping to do that with Australia. It would be an AWESOME get together, that would surely go for days, and what you could remember of it would certainly be epic!

Welcome to Connosr YakLord!!!!!

Hi, my name is Tom and my handle is my initials. I am 36, live in Gloucestershire, UK with my wife and 14 month baby girl. I was first introduced to Laphroaig a couple of years back. Before then I thought I didn't like Whisky. As others have mentioned my early experiences formed a fairly negative opinion but now i have seen the light.

My tastes are still Islay based having explored the Laphroaig range, then moving on to Lagavulin and Talisker. I love full bodied peaty malts and stumbled upon Connosr looking for reviews. Having had a good snoop around the site i had to join. The reviews are excellent, the wealth of knowledge is extensive and you all seem like a bunch of people worth knowing. I have ordered myself an Ardbeg 10 YO this week so am keen to taste.

@tjb Welcome to the site Tom!!!

There are tons of great people here who have a wealth of knowledge and are always willing to share it!

Do let us know what your thoughts of the Ardbeg 10 yr are!!

I know it's been months since anyone has posted in this discussion, but I figure that I'm seeing so many more new faces around here that it might be a nice thing to just bump this thread up and if anyone wants to make introductions they can!

Nice to get a little background on some of the familiar thumbnails around here, it's also definitely interesting to see what real-world whisky nerds do for work and fun.

I live in Vancouver, BC just outside the downtown core and work as a mechanical designer at a smallish company building industrial gearboxes and equipment. I'm 31 but only graduated (with a mechanical engineering degree) two years ago and have been working at this company since.

Whisky is a fairly new hobby of mine, I've been serious about it for about a year and a half, previously I drank Chivas occasionally and that was about it. I've been a major beer nerd for a lot longer, and love all types of craft beer as well as Belgian beers. Favourite Belgian beers are Chimay and Gulden Draak, and we have a number of amazing local breweries that do great stuff from Hefeweizens to Imperial Stouts and Barleywines. My other major hobbies are mountain biking / bikes in general and camping / hiking. I've got into backpacking in a pretty major way this past year and bikes, well I've been obsessed with bikes since I was about 10 years old. Used to ride biketrials, raced XC, and now ride downhill / freeride / general technical riding and am as into it as ever.

I'm not sure exactly what drew me to whiskies but I love them now for many reasons - of course I love the taste and the complexity, the infinitely different tastes and just how different they can be; I also love the stories behind them, the history of the distilleries, the look of the bottles, everything. My main love is Islays (especially Ardbeg) but I'm growing to love some sherried options (my recent purchase of Glenfarclas 15 has kind of blew my mind). Due to the crazy prices of single malt here in BC I tend to stick to younger options but they work for me.

Great thread!

I'm a Canadian who has been living in Japan for almost the past 10 years, so the reason for my handle is probably obvious enough. I've traveled quite extensively, my two favorite destinations being Thailand and Mexico. My wife is Japanese and we are both extremely lucky to have the world's most incredible little boy. We will probably be in Japan for a couple more years and then move on to either Canada or Singapore, haven't quite decided yet!

I consider myself very fortunate to have begun my whisky journey here in Japan because it is my opinion that Japan is home to some of the best whisky in the world. The two bottles that really got me to form a deeper appreciation for whisky are Hibiki 17 yo and Bunnahabhain 18 yo. Like everyone else on this site I love single malts, but I am also a huge blend drinker.

I am incredibly thankful that I joined connosr, I have had the pleasure of meeting some fantastic people. This site is used by some truly high caliber individuals.

Personal heroes - My father, Noam Chomsky, Glenn Greenwald, Tariq Ali, Naomi Klein and the many others like them...

Sports I love to watch - Hockey, American football, baseball, boxing, MMA

Sports I love to play - Baseball, boxing, MMA

Favorite music - among many others... Elvis, Johnny Cash, AFI, and System of a Down, so @systemdown, love the handle!

Favorite films - Goodfellas, Bad Santa, Enter the Dragon and every film from Takeshi Kitano.

Cheers everyone! Or as they say in Japan 'kanpai'!

"IT'S NOT A TUMOR!!"

Hi, my name is Nils, and I'm an whiskyholic. I'm 35. Born and raised in Sweden, all over Sweden to be precise. Due to my dads line of work we had to move a lot. I hated it, but it has made it very easy for me to start over new and build a life from scratch. I've been working in a coffee shop in London, then prison guard back in Sweden, but wanted a job with less tragedy and violence so I went to Australia and studied marine biology, after graduation I basically threw away my science education and became a business man in Japan, where I am now. I have a wife and son now so my moving days are finally over.

My greatest passions used to be scuba/free diving, clubbing and electronic music, video games, movies. Nowadays I don't have much spare time. But when my kid is asleep there are games, music and whisky.

I discovered connosr right after discovering how amazing whisky is neat, which was much less than a year ago, so still a noob. Just wanted to learn so for a while I was only reading, not posting anything. Had no intention of using this place for any social purpose. But that changed, and I've met some really nice and interesting new friends here.

I like all styles of single malt, but generally prefer lots of peat and high ABV.

If anyone wanna read more elaborate stories I would recommend checking out @BlissInABarrel's blog, where a few of us connosr members got interviewed last month.

blissinabarrel.blogspot.com

Finally, @SquidgyAsh, from which Arnie movie? "Dylan, you son of a Bitch"

@CanadianNinja didn't see your post untill after I wrote mine. Funny our stories should end up following each other, having many similarities. I should have mentioned I was into MMA before too lol (haven't been on a mat for years now though)

@lostboyscout. I don't have time right now for a long post, but just wanted to give you a tip if you are looking for good deals. As you know JW Green Label is discontinued. BCL has 19 bottles left scattered around the province. They have dropped the price from $75 to $55. I just copped the last 2 on the Sunshine Coast. I see that the big store at 39th and Cambie has 2 left. If you call them they will put one or both aside for you and you can pick them up when you are able. It's very good 15 yr. old blended malt as you are no doubt aware and worth grabbing before they are gone forever. I also see a few bottles of Compass Box Great King Street blend on the BCL website. 6 in Burnaby and 6 in Surrey. It is also supposed to be very good. I'm trying to get hold of one myself.

I agree, we do pay through the nose here, but, hey, we get to live here. Cheers.

Cheers.

@NilsG, NICE, Predator. Great film! So sorry.... that question was for @SquidgyAsh... just couldn't help myself ; )

Hi, my name is Frank1. My handle has nothing to do with my name, it's the first name that popped in my head, and I work as a lawyer (well, not exactly, but it's close enough). I've been a fan of whisky, on and off, for almost a decade. I love whisky, but my drink of choice is mainly beer: I drink it, I brew it and I also serve as a judge in competititons. I joined Connosr to broaden my horizon to new whiskies, but mostly to force myself to take tasting notes.

@NilsG As CanadianNinja already said, Predator. Awesome moving! Opening scene after Dutch arrives to meet Dillon. This just shows me I should respond as soon as I see it :D No harm done @CanadianNinja! It's one of my favorite Arnold movies, that and Terminator series. Now I know what I'm watching for the rest of the day hahaha.

@NilsG, @CanadianNinja. @Lostboyscout, @Frank1 A very belated welcome to the site hahaha.

@Frank1 what's your favorite style of beer?!

@CanadianNinja same question right to you!

@CanadianNinja and @NilsG so does this mean that when I finally get to Japan I'll have a couple of awesome local tour guides who know all the good whisky bars?!

Hello all. I live on Long Island, New York with my wife and 9 month old daughter. I work in Human Resources at a large financial services organization. My handle is a combination of my undergraduate (Duke) and graduate school (Michigan State).

I first tried whisky at one of my professor's house about 17 years ago and for a number of years was just an occasional whisky drinker. I lived in London for 18 months so naturally started to get more interested in whisky when I was there. I was still primarily a beer drinker at that time so did not fully take advantage of my time in the UK. I don't know exactly why but started to get really into whisky in 2012. I joined the forum to learn more about whisky and make some connections.

I love all things food and also appreciate beer and wine. In those areas as well as whisky, I am just not that big into analyzing things. I like reading everyone's reviews and learning about how others see whisky but to be honest, I tend to approach things in much coarser terms that a lot of other enthusiasts. In a clearer way, I like what I like. I know enough to say I prefer French Pinot Noir to California/Oregon ones but wouldn't know how to provide an in depth review of them. I mention this as I know that reviewing and commenting on reviews is a lot of what members on Connosr do. Although I might provide a response to a review, I just don't see myself providing reviews like others who are on this forum. I hope that is ok as I really think this is a great way to connect with others who are on this same whisky journey.

I would love to find others in the New York area who would like to connect and share some whisky. My wife is a good sport, just don't think I will ever convert her.

@msudukie Welcome my friend! I wouldn't worry at all about not writing reviews or even commenting on very many. All sorts of people make up a community! I was talking to someone recently and I think the thing about writing reviews is that at the end of the day you need to be writing them for you, honestly, for your pleasure, if someone else finds them useful so much the better, but if you just write reviews to write reviews then it's pretty much a job and as so many people know, you'll most likely burn out and stop enjoying what used to be fun.

Quick nonwhisky question if you don't mind, how badly was Long Island hit by Sandy? Since I'm no longer in the US I oftentimes find I don't get enough of the information I crave about things in the states. Everyone in your family/friends came through alright?

I've been a beer man for the longest time - Sours and stouts especially. First scotch was Laga 16 a couple of years ago. Wait. That's not true. When I was in the military in the early 90's, I was hanging out with a fellow soldier in his home town in Holland. Before going out drinking for the night, he said we had to stop in and say hi to his grandpa. Old man spoke no English, but he poured us some great scotch. Which I drank over ice. My only whisky experience was Makers on the rocks, so that is how I thought you drank whisky. Hell, 3 drinks in, I didn't even want to check out Amsterdam. I was having a great time drinking his whisky!

I was a hoarder of a beer collector, and that has carried over into my scotch. Sorry, can't help it. There is an OCD compulsiveness about whisky that I like that I cannot fight. If it is not being made anymore and I like it, multiple bottles are going into the war chest.

Favorites are Laphroaig (never had a bad one), and sweeties like Speysides and Highlands.

@SquidgyAsh Thanks for the welcome. I enjoy reading your reviews and posts.

Also, thanks for asking how we fared in Sandy. I have only been in the Northeast for about 10 years but everyone said it was by far the worst storm ever for Long Island. Tons of flooding and loss of power which both contributed to a severe gas shortage for about 2 weeks. Most of the tunnels in Manhattan were flooded so made getting around tough (in addition to the gas shortage). My house was not hit by any fallen trees but we did lose power for 10 days in weather that was in the 40s. A house about a block away blew up due to a ruptered gas line and we had hundreds of trees down in our community. It was surreal walking around see 60+ feet high trees down left and right.

Luckily we had a good support system and were able to stay with friends/family to keep warm and sane. Others had it much worse so we felt fortunate that we came out relatively unscathed.

@msudukie, I completely share your sentiments my friend! I am also not a whisky reviewer. I don't particularly have the interest or the skill set required to produce effective reviews and therefore I don't feel the need to provide others with my evaluations.

To all of you who post reviews and provide the rest of us with your incredibly valuable insights and judgements, I am extremely grateful. Your reviews have been greatly helpful when making purchasing decisions for myself or buying gifts for family and friends. I sincerely thank you for your amazing contributions to connosr.

@SquidgyAsh Awesome discussion. I like so many others got into whisky around two decades ago, when I was in the Navy, mostly blends. My handle is like my honesty it's my name nothing fancy or surprising it's who I am. I live in Michigan U.S.A again nothing impressive there, are you board yet. LOL. My admiral (wife) loves whisky as well. I decided to join this site because I stumbled across it by accident and it was free. LOL. I also want to thank Jean-Luc and Pierre for this site and all the work they do to keep it up and running, this is truely an awesome place for a whisky enthusiasts to enjoy good company. Thanks for listening to my story not much there in the way of excitement LOL. :)

@SquidgyAsh Favourite style of beer ? That's a tough one ! When it comes to brewing and drinking, I'd say English bitters. 80% of what I brew is in that style. When it comes to judging, American Pale Ale. you get very few duds in this category.

@PMessinger @msudukie There is a lot of value in reviews from people with different skillsets and approaches. I'm guilty sometimes of over analyzing and sometimes, that leads to reviews that miss the forest for the trees. Short and to the point, with 2-3 notes on the nose, palate and finish can sometimes be a benediction for people wanting to get an overall feeling of a whisky before making a purchase decision.

Herro, everybody! (Awkward, shy wave). My username was just created because I feel most happiest when I'm in a room filled with super nice, down-to-earth people drinking whisky! I started drinking whisky as an accident. In fact, the day I got into whisky was the same day that Gaddafi died (no, i didn't start drinking because of his death). I woke up one morning and the first thing that came to my mind was, "Hey! You should use whisky as a form of muse to write poetry." I didn't know know anything about whisky, but because it was such a random thought I figured, "Ah what the heck!

So, a few days later, I went to a bar and asked a bartender if he could teach me a thing or two about whiskies. He started talking about the Lowlands and Highlands in scotches. Then, he made me a cocktail called the Blood and Sand, and he indicated that it was a drink that was inspired by a Hollywood film in the 40's. (That was the point when I sipped my cocktail and looked up at the tv screen and saw the announcement of Gaddaffi's death and I thought, "No freakin way!! Woah ..(slurp. slurp)."

I was fascinated that one could really approach whisky from a pedagogical point of view, so I joined a whisky society in Los Angeles. I met all sorts of cool people and my love for whisky started to grow. It grew so much that it inspired me to quit my social work job and I back packed to Scotland solo and made it out to Highland Park and Laphroaig. So, here I am...I'm still learning and am quite new to the drinking world, so I'm always excited to learn from people.

I've been traveling around town with a little notebook that has little doodles of whiskies and tasting notes...luckily people liked my drawings. One day I got a free ticket to go to a whisky event and I approached someone from the whisky industry. He said, "Wow! People have been telling me about you. They say there's some girl traveling around town with drawings of distilleries and now I get to see it in person." (sorry..i'm not trying to brag here...my books just has some doodles here and there. nothing special).I told him I wanted to be in the whisky industry and he hired me based on my notebook. So, I've jumped to the other side of this world and am learning to be in the whisky industry...and I still get shy and intimidated by all the older dudes I meet. I guess I have a little chip on my shoulder and I want to prove to people that I know a thing or two about certain whiskies. My dream is to publish some whisky books (I still need to work on my writing because I'm mediocre still), continue to be in the whisky industry, make some good amount of money so I can treat my mommy and daddy to a nice trip to Europe, and start a fancy whisky society (if I ever become a "rich bitch" as Nils puts it) where I can fly my connosr buddies to Scotland so we can have an epic journey of walking through distilleries, through the open hills and drink fancy scotches (in the same spirit of Lord of the Rings Fellowship style ...a band of friends traveling together and sticking together like peanut butter and jam without the bloodshed...what can i say? I'm a dork).

I love cask strength single malts from private labels, especially from Blackadder, Scott's Selection, Duncan Taylor and Samoreli. As @nils puts it, any whisky that burns and brings tears to your eyes is a great whisky. BTW, Nils, I stole your expression and that's been working with customers at the liquor store. I'm not original, but as any asian person I steal your ideas and I tweak it a bit!

So, essentially, I work every day and am hoping that it will all pay off one way or another. Whisky has allowed me to befriend all sorts of people. I now belong to a whisky group called Malt Nuts that has all married Jewish Orthodox men (I guess you can say I've managed to weasel my way into lots of whisky places and groups...hehehe) and now the Southern California Whisky Club. So, whisky has allowed me to go out of my comfort zone and meet all sorts of nice people from all over the world.

I joined Connosr because I was being a creeper ....Laphroaig had a Laphroaig Live event in Germany last year and John Campbell, the distillery manager, was having a presentation. So, I watched it because John is SUPER AWESOME! He cooked me food when I was on Islay and allowed me to partake in their Water to Whisky Tour for free, etc. Anyway, Pierre was on the Laphroaig Live event and he talked about Connosr briefly...so I joined because of that. And then I got to know some pretty darn nice people here! :D So, I get very essssssited and enthusiastic and I always worry of being that creeper super fan of some sort, but so far no one has complained or at least they have hidden their fear of my zealous ways. :D

okeee, byeeee!

@msudukie Good to hear that buddy!