What???
You don't want to join the mailinglist?
That means you're even madder than I am!
Does that mean you don't like the Malt Madness site?
How could that possibly be? I mean - what's not to like?
Malt Madness has information, opinions and even some pretty pictures!
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malt scotch. I have been using your site to learn and appreciate the time you took to make this website. After I have learned more, in the next few weeks, I plan on offering a tasting of single malts. Included in this will be tips
on how to experience different scotches. Provided that I include your website information, would you be comfortable with me printing out copies of some of your pages and use it as a guide for the people attending? I have found your site to be
very imformative and concise yet detailed enough for later reading. I think that these printed materials would be very helpful for the attendees. Let me know your thoughts, and thank you for the great website.
BRAVO! BRAVO indeed!!!
I have thoroughly enjoy reading and learning from the vast amount of information on your web site. Not only is it educational, but also outrageously amusing and light hearted, down-right funny many times, absolutely
enjoyable all of the time.
I had a faint notion of what single malt was, mainly thanks to my favourite (and only) brother. He lived in England for several years and presented me with a bottle of Balvenie 12yo Doublewood, which I
proceeded to compare to a bottle of Dewars I had stashed away. I actually did not care much for whiskey (I was strictly a wine guy), but after this gift I began my "journey". Two months ago I spent a couple of weeks in Scotland and THEN I
bumped into your web site. I am now on my way to becoming a malt maniac. Starting with Balvenie, Lagavulin, Talisker, Cragganmore, Glenfiddich (Havana "version"), Ardbeg and Dalmore.
Not bad for a Venezuelan-born, USA-raised, now Spanish citizen new malt addict.
Congratulations on a fine page!! And CHEERS!
Arturo from Madrid (arturo.fermin X terra.es)
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Alex St. Clair
Overland Park, KS (rumbleams X hotmail.com)
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Hi!
I just wanted to let you what a superb website you have!
I'm pretty much a single malt novice myself, and I did find your "beginner section" very useful.
Thanks for the best single malt site I have seen, and keep up the good work!
Best Regards
Anders Engstrom (azure X b542.sparta.lu.se)
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Congratulations on a brilliant website! I happened upon it during a search for Single Malt whiskies - this
is without an iota of doubt, the best and most authoritative site on the subject I have come across. Keep up the good work!
Badri Narayan, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (bnarayan X adelphia.net)
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I would like to take a moment to thank you for producing and maintaining the single best single malt website my
eyes have ever seen. Each page is useful, informative and entertaining. I can embark upon the world of SMSW with confidence, grace and competence and know that I have a "friend in the business". I was your typical
new Scotch drinker only a few years ago and had experienced perhaps only three or four blended Scotches (J&B, Walker Black Label, Ballentine, etc.), and just three single malts (Scapa 12, Glenlivet 12, and Glenfiddich 12). Now I have
been brave and bold enough to venture into more unfamiliar territory and have discovered that there is indeed as diverse a palate in Scotch tasting as there is in beer--my previous alcohol-based hobby. Thank you so very much and I hope
you don't get cirrhosis.
Brian Block (brianblock x bellsouth.net)
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Just had to tell
you that I found your site one of the most interesting and well laid out sites on SMS. I have been using Michael Jackson's guide for many years (about 10) as my guide, and it is very refreshing to have a "second opinion" in order to
balance where I sit on a particular malt. Although never getting as deep as you have (probably afraid of the work envolved) in rating each one, I have more than enjoyed SM experiences enormously.
Keep up the good work on your site.
Cary Kitner
Montreal, Canada (caryk X istar.ca)
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Wow! Thanks for the great site! I have truly enjoyed it. (and still am!) I am a beginner, and have been
looking for an informative, good looking, easily navigatable site, and yours fills my order. I've learned alot about sms (I now have to go back to my local TGIF to apologize to the bartender who served me Glenlivet in a snifter, and I
indignantly asked for a "proper" glass, a tumbler. woops!), and have started saving for a "good" dram. I will be visiting often. I look forward to learning (and tasting) more about single malts from your way-cool site.
Dan McCrossen (daniel_mccrossen X nhusd.k12.ca.us)
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Johannes,
I certainly hope you are planning on keeping up this site for ...well......forever.
It is certainly the most honest and acessable scoth whisky site, and has been invaluable to me in my exploration of single malts. Keep up the good work, and
please try to find time to keep the site and your passion up to date.
Scotch bless you,
Duane USA (duanestroh X msn.com)
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Hi, Johannes!
I've been visiting your site for, what, 2 years?, and it just keeps getting better and better.
I enjoy most every section of your site, especially the ratings and public warnings and I just have to say this: PLEASE keep warning folks away
from that horrific Loch Dhu! I know some folks like it (!!!), but the large majority ABSOLUTELY DESPISE IT! I especially love your tasting reports. Your hopalong HTH comparison method is very similar to my practice: I seem to have
relatively poor/undeveloped taste/smell memory, so I HTH a pair of malts and do this sequentially. We disagree on Ardbeg 10 vs. Ardbeg 17 (I love the peaty 10, but consider the low peated 17 to be not really an Ardbeg, except legally), but
that is the only serious disagreement I can find, which means that you are helping me out considerably by serving as "malt explorer point man". So, keep up the good work, keep drinking and reporting from the front lines,
and, if you feel like lowering Loch Dhu's lofty 8 points, have at it! With a chainsaw! ;-)
Slainte,
Ed Voigtman (EVoigtman X aol.com)
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Thank you for the wonderful site you have assembled. I have only been "exposed" to single malts
for some five years. I have had the opportunity on several occasions to sample in some fine upscale drinking establishments where there are 30 or more single malts to choose from. Finding your website has enhanced my single malt
experience. It is great to learn about the complex world of malt whiskeys and your rating system and black book notes are terrific for help in selecting the next taste experience. My first adventure based on your ratings (and M.
Jackson's as well) was a bottle of Laphroaig 10 year old, which I shared with my brother on vacation this April. While it was "extreme" as you indicated, we had both tried Islay malts previously and sort of knew what to
expect. We really enjoyed the Laphroaig and agreed to surprise each other next year on vacation with a bottle each selected through research on your site.
I have been back to your site several times and have referred it to several friends.
Please keep up the good work and know there are appreciative single malt lovers out here.
Gerald (Jerry) Stensrud (gerald.stensrud X gte.net)
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Johannes, I salute you and your maniacs!! It is to you and your site that I owe my
enjoyment of the Scottish Single Malt. You have the best whisky site I have ever seen so far. It gets better all the time. I almost laughed my eyes out after I found your site at Altavista for the first time. That was almost two years ago. I
just came to find a present for a friedn. I myself only sometimes had blends before and did not like them much. But I liked your stories a lot. I stayed for more than three hours on your site because how hard I tried I could not leave the
site. I laughed and learned a lot and became more interested. Why do you even have a links page? I followed some links but got bored and returned to Malt Madness again. This happened different times. The next day I bought two bottles of
lagavulin, one for me and one for my friend. The rest was history. We both now have joined a whiksy club here (sorry no website yet) and we started a new tradition - we will have a Malt Madness evening one time every year. It will be in
December. We will then choose our menu from the whisky's you have tried in your log. Then we will give points and put them on web some time. So know you have faithful diciples in the north!
A big smile and many thanks from Sweden.
Horst Carlsson (carlsson67 X msn.com)
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Hello from Memphis, Tennessee, USA
You are one crazy dude, but obviously a genius and you have developed the best Scotch web site on the planet. I am a fledgling connoisseur of Single Malt Scotch, having made my discovery as the result of reading 6 fictional
novels buy the author, WEB Griffith. The hero in this series of novels drank "The Famous Grouse". I thought it was a fictional scotch, until I found myself in a pub in Niagara on the Lake, Canada, where I see a bottle of
The Famous Grouse and "boom", I am off to the races. Shortly thereafter I discovered Single Malts and I spend as much time as possible experimenting. I have around 20 - 30 different brands at home at any given time. Its a
marvelous way to kill time and brain cells.
All I want to say is congratulations and please continue to carry the flag.
Jerry Hubbard (Jerry.Hubbard X ftcm.com)
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What a kick ass site from the content, design, and graphics!!!!
Don't ever stop! You are to be congratulated.
James Blackwell (jkblack X mediaone.net)
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Hi johannes,
your
page is fabulous! i had my first introduction to single malts two years ago when i tried a small sip of a macallan-18 from a friend. it was great and i wanted to learn a little more about single malts, but knew not where to
begin. well, now i've found the place. :) now that i don't feel so ignorant, i think i'll head to the liquor store and pick-up a sampler and perhaps share with some friends. :) thanks much.
Jeff Ruby (jeffruby X erols.com)
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I thoroughly enjoyed your website regarding single malt
scotches. I must say that though I have been drinking it for years (oban and craggenmore are my favorites, though Glen Livet is the old standby, everyone has it) I still prefer mine on the rocks, it's a temperature thing I guess. Two
questions: I am assisting in opening a high end martini and wine bar in Omaha Nebraska (Yes... Nebraska), and would love to hand out printed copies of your beginners section to employees. Would you mind? Secondly; Aside from Glen Livit,
Oban, and craggenmore what would be a few high end bottles that you would suggest, and the "Best" single malt out there?
Thanks,
Jeff Salzer (jeff.salzer X jesconsulting.com)
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Hi Johannes!
My name is JP Andrews, I'm 38 year old and I have been dabbling in single malts for a
couple of years now, but not in a serious way, just a bottle here and there. Over the last few months I've found myself becoming more and more interested in the subject so I decided to search the Internet for a little information. I want you
to know that your site - Malt Madness - is the best site I've seen on the subject (in truth it is one of the best web sites on any subject I've even seen). I found it informative, helpful, thought provoking and enjoyable. I learned so much by
reading the beginner's guide! Thank you for taking the time to put this wonderful site together, I will be telling several of my friends about it in the next few days.
Take care,
JP Andrews (jpathomas X yahoo.com)
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Wow!
That was probably the single most kick-ass web page I've ever seen in my life.
Thanks for an awesome browsing experience.
J. Willis (jwillis X mail.erielink.com)
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I've been following your site for, well, over a year now and wanted to say how much I thoroughly enjoy it!
Much like a Laphroaig on a cold winters night after a filling of steak and potatoes! I hope you keep it going, you're doing an excellent job and I truly appreciate and applaude your efforts. I thank-you for creating this fantastic forum
for all Malt Madness fanatics like myself.
Cheers,
Ken Seton, Montreal, Canada (kenseton X cs.com)
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Johannes,
What a wonderful, humorous, and informative site you have put together!!!
I found your site by searching for "single malt scotch guide" on www.google.com
I loved reading your web site. So much of it sounded familiar. I too was a Cognac-head, and recently discovered the wonders of
single-malt whisky. I am still really a beginner, but have tried Speyburn 10 Years (which I agree with you -- It's not THAT bad), Glenmorangie 10 Years (I agree with yoo again -- much better than Speyburn). Recent health reports say a few
drinks a day are actually good for your heart and decrease the chances of developing Alzheimer's -- all the more reason to enjoy the water of life!
Thanks again for your wonderful web site - which is both entertaining and informative!.
You have become a hero to we newly-converted midwestern United States Single Malt Scotch drinkers!
Regards,
Kimmer Smith Indianapolis, Indiana USA (kimmer X iquest.net)
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Johannes,
Just wanted to drop you a little thank you note.
I have just started a course on Web Site design and our first assignment was to evaluate a web site. I searched for a site about one of the finer things in life and found your
site. Very impressive. The layout meets all of the criterion our instructor laid out, if you care to know that. I am quite impressed by the layout and the ease at which I can find information I am looking for. The content is
also great. I am sure after the presentation to the rest of my class you should be getting a number of other visits. Thanks again, keep up the great work and hope you get plenty of chances to sample over the holidays.
Kurtis Wagner, Winnipeg, MB Canada (pkwagner X mb.sympatico.ca)
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God exists and he drinks whisky!
Maltmadness is an excellent site befitting an excellent subject. Thank you.
Pieter Lauwers (lauwers.rom X planetinternet.be)
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Dear Johannes,
I stumbled across your website as I was enjoying a selection or six from my humble
collection of SMS. You are a very good writer. I'm glad you are genuinely capable and willing to share your experiences with other maltmadmen and maltmadwomen. It was especially entertaining to read Log Entry #80. Good
luck in your quest, whatever it may become.
Rich Lunardi, San Mateo, California (lunardi X sbcglobal.net)
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Thanks for the great site! Rarely do I find precisely the information I'm seeking during my first search online, but
maltmadness.com was perfection. I'm a wine drinker who was looking for something new to dabble in, and wanted more
information on what to expect in single malt scotch - you've helped a load! Thanks again.
Mark Flocco (mflocco X austin.rr.com)
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I truly enjoy your superb website. As you well know, there are many whisky sites around these days.
Very few are as interesting as yours. I particularly like that you don't take yourself too seriously.
Your whisky notes state your point of view well.
Cheers,
Mark Kaplan (mrkaplan X ix.netcom.com)
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Johannes,
A world class website! I've been checking it out for about a year and have made quite a
few purchases based on your recommendations. Please, pulleeeese, taste the Aberlour a'Bunadh Batch #6. Don't deny your taste buds one more day! This is definately a top tener! WOWW!!!!! Please consider adding some Rum tastings to your site.
Paul Galli, Sunnyvale, CA (eichler X pacbell.net)
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Hello Johannes!!!
My name is Per Ousbäck, and i just accidently dived into the water of life. I bought a bottle of Laphroaig on Milano airport, and found that the world of Single Malts must be explored. I was eager to try out other whisky´s as well, so i
bought a bottle of
Talisker and a bottle of Balvenie(doublewood), and now i´m hooked..
I just want to thank you for your wonderful whiskypage, which is now my guide to the wonderful world of malts.
As a beginner one really needs some direction, and you have given me that through your pages.
Thank you
Regards, Per Ousbäck (Per.Ousback X afs.skandia.se)
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Johannes,
I saw your website about 3 days ago. I was really looking for a site like this, but
biased towards rum, one of my favorites. Anyhow, I read your page pretty much all the way through over a couple of days and had come to the conclusion that it was time to try real whisky instead of crappy rum. I made the commitment
yesterday, went out and bought an inexpensive, but decent, bottle of smsw and tried it last night (Auchentoshan 10...long story). I would like to thank you for pointing people like myself in this direction.
The Auchentoshan
10, while not rated high on your list, rates at the top for me, right now. Since my only other experience with *any* type of whisk(e)y is Jack Daniels, I have no choice but to rate it at the top. But it is galaxies better than American
whisky. Definately more body, complex flavor/aroma, etc. You already knew that, though.
Again, many thanks for the wonderful website.
Had it been any less enthusiastic aboue smsw, I would probably have not even tried any.
Keep up the good work.
Peter Norgard (ki0eg X umarc.missouri.edu)
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THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! I've finally found a decent whisky site. Even though I have only been enjoying and
appreciating the elixir of life for a few years already, I really appreciate the information and interaction of a good web site such as yours. Mr. Jackson's book is good, but your more concise approach and taste system is more to my
liking. This was recently proven when, before having just discovered your website, I purchased bottles of Lagavulin 16 yrs. and Dalmore 12 yrs. for a reception celebrating the birth of my first son after having four (4) daughters. I
thought the Lagavulin was the best I've ever had, and the Dalmore was very good. To say the least, about two dozen men and a few women agreed with me. I even had some Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, and Cognac on the table for the traditionalists,
but after one sip (nee breather!) of the Lagavulin, the other stuff was hardly touched by anyone.
Again, THANK YOU!!! Keep it up.
Richard Klein (RKlein X kleintech.com)
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You just made my day by providing such a fun/informativ/brilliant!/what-ever-good-word-you-can-find site!!!
I'm trying to taste as much whisky I can (time/money-issues), to perhaps, one day have the possibility to apply for a membership in your exclusive group of maniacs... Anyway, keep up the good work, and good luck in the future.
Slainthe Mhath
Mattias Nordkvist, Helsingborg, Sweden (slainthe_mhath X hotmail.com)
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Johannes --
I recently decided it was time to step up the quality of my drinking experiences, from beer, to blended whiskey, and now, I am preparing to strike out into the world of Single Malt Scotch Whiskey.
Beginning my search on the Internet, I stumbled into your site. What an overload of fantastic information! There are dozens of sites relating to Single Malts on the web, but yours is the only site I have bookmarked now, its all I need. I still
have yet to decide which bottle shall be my first purchase, but I am sure after reading your Black Book again, I will settle on one, and begin the adventure.Thanks for the information, its been very helpful!
I have already steered several friends to your site, they all love it, also!
Scott Lazzari, Natick, Massachussetts (Just outside of Boston), USA (slazzari X Viewlogic.com)
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Sir, may I congratulate you on an excellent web site!
It is well-designed, amusing, interesting and unusually
comprehensive. I understand that the 'whisky' 'whiskey' issue is largely to do with a legal argument concerning methods and place of production (much like the 'Champagne' 'sparkling wine'
issue). In your explanation of words you
describe a 'dram' as meaning 'a glass of'; I know I'm just being pedantic but a dram (or drachm) is a precise measurement equal to 1/8th of a fluid ounce or 60 minims. Since metrification and the Weights and Measures Act of 1985 it has been
illegal (in the European Union) to sell spirits in any quantity other than multiples of 25ml. You may still be encouraged by a friend to stay for "a wee drachm" or kid yourself you wont really drink today, just have a drachm, as it
is a relatively small measurement (nowhere near what you would expect to be served in a bar these days) and is useful to maintain the illusion of not over-indulging. I agree with a great deal of what you say and, although I differ on issues
such as dilution, I am impressed by your informative rather than dictatorial approach to teaching the world the values of malt whisky; as you say, it is a matter of individual taste.
All the best.
Tom Spencer (tom.spencer X heracles.force9.net)
No? Well, I'll give you just a few more moments to think it over... ... Well? If you're still not interested, it's a good thing I can't see you from here because I'm getting the
feeling you're just the type of whisky wanker I don't want hanging around on my website. Go on, leave! Your mere presence leaves a digital stench on this glorious work of art! Go away! Go pester somebody else. I insist you
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. . . . .
And I think that's quite enough self-glorification, don't you agree?
So, maybe you've reconsidered your position on joining the mailinglist by now?
Just to prove to you that there are actually people out there that like the site I've 'randomly' selected a few messages that dropped into my mailbox during the past year. I think you'll agree most of these people seemed pretty satisfied. And you don't have to take my word for it. I've included the e-mail addresses of these members of 'the public' so you can verify their comments. In a low-tech attempt to mislead spam spiders I've changed '@' to ' X ' in every e-mail address. Just put the '@' back in the address if you want to contact the writer. Just scroll down what some members of the public wrote about the site - just remember they may have been drunk when they wrote their comments ;-) If this doesn't convince you, I don't know what will...
A not-so-random selection of visitor comments;
One of the very best web sites I have had the pleasure of visiting for the following reasons:
- Very informative (I have enjoyed Scotch and Single Malts for years but now I know how to distinguish why)
- Very well designed (Colorful, easy to navigate, interesting, informative)
- You have kindled in me an intense interest in learning more about Single Malts and enjoying them more.
Keep up the good work. I will be back again and again.
Thank you very much.
Al Smith (alsmith X austin.rr.com)
