2008 Malt Maniacs Archive
Malt Maniacs Archives - 2008

MM#108 - E-pistle 2008/01 - The Best Whiskies of 2007 (by Krishna Nukala, India)
Krishna kicks off the first issue of 2008 with a review of the ten best single malt whiskies he sampled in 2007 - or at least his personal favorites.
He starts and finishes with Talisker (a favorite at many editions of our annual Malt Maniacs Awards so no big surprise there), but manages to
virtually visit a few surprising locations along the way - like Balblair, Ballindalloch and Tamnavulin...

 
MM#108 - E-pistle 2008/06 - A Minion's Muse
(by Dave Wankel, USA)
When Dave Wankel submitted his report about his dramming adventures in Hong Kong and at home he was still a 'foreign correspondent'.
 
MM#108 - E-pistle 2008/09 - My Most Memorable Visit to Scotland
(by Konstantin Grigoriadis, Greece)
Before Konstantin became a member of the malt maniacs (and our official 'bar crier' in charge of the events calendar), he made a few pilgrimages
to Scotland. Other countries like Japan, India and Taiwan may be catching up quickly, but Scotland is still #1 in whisky tourism and distillery visits.
 
MM#109 - E-pistle 2008/10 - Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (by Davin de Kergommeaux, Canada)
There has been much discussion on some American whisky websites about how to spell whisk(e)y. Davin thought whisky anoraks concerned
themselves with whisky itself, while language anoraks argued over spellings. Not so, apparently. Davin suggests it is a matter of style, not law.
 
MM#109 - E-pistle 2008/13 - Responsible Drinking (by Dominic Roskrow, UK)
Foreign correspondent Dominic Roskrow wonders if there is anyone else out there who has noticed a shift in British media attitudes to alcohol?
Or if anyone else has started to feel uneasy at what appears to be a concerted campaign to attack drinking habits in the United Kingdom?
And senses a move from a position of 'moderate' or 'sensible' alcohol consumption towards the start of a zero tolerance campaign?
 
MM#109 - E-pistle 2008/15 - What's In A Word? (by Craig Daniels, Australia)
Some lateral-thinking mavericks in Diageo stirred the SWA (Scotch Whisky Association) into action a few years ago. The "Cardhu Pure Malt"
controversy brought the category into sharp focus recently. But just why did the corporate machinations of Diageo around pure malt whisky kick
up such a stink and get the malt connoisseur community (unkindly put down as anoraks) seriously agitated?
 
MM#109 - E-pistle 2008/17 - CioccolaTò Report 2008 (by Luca Chichizola, Italy)
It is no mystery that the Slow Food movement has a strong following in Italy, and that great care is taken to preserve culinary traditions, quality
and attention to "niche" products. So, in Italy you can find many chocolate-oriented events. We've written about combining whisky with chocolate
before, and we have written about whisky festivals before - but this is the first time we wrote about a chocolate festival like CioccolaTò in Torino.
 
MM#110 - E-pistle 2008/20 - What's 'Modern' Whisky? (by Serge Valentin, France)
Those of you that have been drinking single malts for more than a few years may have noticed a gradual change in the profiles of many whiskies.
That's because "they don't make 'em like they used to". Our French maniac Serge became the maniac with the highest 'malt mileage' a while ago,
and he is also one of the maniacs who have sampled the most 'antique' whiskies. That makes him the perfect person to comment on this.
 
MM#110 - E-pistle 2008/21 - Thomas Dewar, A Biography (by Robert Karlsson & Hasse Nilsson, Sweden)
Whisky legend and amateur humorist Thomas Dewar gave his name to an important whisky brand, and a whisky empire that has survived
(sort of) until this day. Thomas Dewar's business cards said things like "I have given up lending money for some time. But I don't mind having a drink.
Make it a Dewar's please"
. Apparently, Swedish people think that's funny, because Robert Karlsson & Hasse Nilsson wrote a small biography.
 
MM#110 - E-pistle 2008/27 - Springbank Whisky School 2008 (by Lawrence Graham, Canada)
Little did Lawrence know that he was one of the last 'students' at the Springbank whisky school before the distillery would close down for a few years.
So, this a rare 'fly on the wall' report on the way they ran things at this Campbeltown distillery before the temporary closure.

Malt Maniacs Issue #108  -  February 29, 2008

E-pistle #2008/01 - The Best Whiskies of 2007  (submitted by Krishna Nukala, India)
E-pistle #2008/02 - Olivier's Travels; Inverness  (submitted by Olivier Humbrecht, France)
E-pistle #2008/03 - Book Review: Broom's Handbook of Whisky   (submitted by Davin de Kergommeaux, Canada) 
E-pistle #2008/04 - Xenomaltology; Charbay, California, USA  (submitted by Lex Kraaijeveld, UK)
E-pistle #2008/05 - Ardbeg Double Barrel - Tasting Report  (submitted by Mark Gillespie, USA) 
E-pistle #2008/06 - A Minion's Muse  (submitted by Dave Wankel, USA)
E-pistle #2008/07 - Ports of Call  (submitted by Louis Perlman, USA)
E-pistle #2008/08 - An interview with Moritz Kallmeyer  (submitted by Joe Barry, South Africa)
E-pistle #2008/09 - My Most Memorable Visit to Scotland  (submitted by Konstantin Grigoriadis, Greece)
 

Malt Maniacs Issue #109  -  April 15, 2008

E-pistle #2008/10 - Let's Call The Whole Thing Off  (submitted by Davin de Kergommeaux, Canada)
E-pistle #2008/11 - The Lastest (& Blackest?) Bowmore   (submitted by Mark Gillespie, USA)
E-pistle #2008/12 - Book Review; Whisky With Dinner  (submitted by Davin de Kergommeaux, Canada)
E-pistle #2008/13 - Responsible Drinking  (submitted by Dominic Roskrow, UK)
E-pistle #2008/14 - A Dozen Recent Duncan Taylor Bottlings  (submitted by Bert Bruyneel, Belgium)
E-pistle #2008/15 - What's in a Word?   (submitted by Craig Daniels, Australia)
E-pistle #2008/16 - (Sort of a) Book Review; The Malt Whisky File  (submitted by Johannes van den Heuvel, Holland)
E-pistle #2008/17 - CioccolaTò Report 2008  (submitted by Luca Chichizola, Italy)
E-pistle #2008/18 - Mega Macallan Tasting (Part II)  (submitted by Craig Daniels, Australia)
E-pistle #2008/19 - Glenfarclas Family Casks: The Saga goes on  (submitted by Luc Timmermans, Belgium)
 

Malt Maniacs Issue #110  -  October 15, 2008

E-pistle #2008/20 - What's 'Modern' Whisky?  (submitted by Serge Valentin, France)
E-pistle #2008/21 - Thomas Dewar, A Biography  (submitted by Robert Karlsson & Hasse Nilsson, Sweden)
E-pistle #2008/22 - Interview with Duncan Taylor's Euan Shand  (submitted by Bert Bruyneel, Belgium)
E-pistle #2008/23 - One Man's Mascara is Another Man's Malt   (submitted by Nabil Mailloux, Canada)
E-pistle #2008/24 - How To Speak Whisky  (submitted by Peter Silver, USA)
E-pistle #2008/25 - Cutty Sark: a Scantily-clad Witch  (submitted by Lex Kraaijeveld, UK)
E-pistle #2008/26 - Bert's Summer Stunners Report  (submitted by Bert Bruyneel, Belgium)
E-pistle #2008/27 - Springbank Whisky School  (submitted by Lawrence Graham, Canada)
 

Ah, the year 2008... We remember that year with some embarrassment.
And that's because we've only managed to fill three issues this year, as opposed to the
eight plump and juicy issues we produced in 2007. Then, we welcomed four new members
to our little whisky collective; Konstantin Grigoriadis from Greece, Pit Krause from Germany,
Joe Barry from South Africa and Mark Gillespie from the USA. Three of our new arrivals have
whisky websites of their own, but last year they've found time for maniacal 'work' as well.

Besides, we sort of have another excuse for the low number of E-pistles this year.
As our team has grown larger and larger in recent years, the amount of scores on the
matrix and the Malt Maniacs Monitor has been rising steadily. That's great from a user's
perspective, but it also means that the amount of work involved has increased. If we
manage to recruit a new maniac with some database skills, we might be able to find
an IT solution some day. However, for now we rely on the blood, sweat and tears of
Serge and Luca to maintain the 'Excel mother file', which is the basis for the PDF's.

Perhaps the decreased number of E-pistles has something to do with all these fancy
'social media' that are emerging. After all, time spent on posting short messages and
pictures can't be spent on writing long E-pistles. Nevertheless, we felt that we should
embrace this opportunity to communicate with our readers and 'the whisky industry'.
So, follow us on Twitter or check out Malt Maniacs & Friends on Facebook if you are
interested in breaking whisky news and the latest developments. E-mail is só 1999...

And that's it, at least as far as the 'editorial comments' for 2008 are concerned. We'll start with some of our most popular articles from the
period directly below, while you can find all 27 E-pistles that we published in 2008 if you scroll down a little bit further...

Malt Madness - our first whisky web siteWhiskyFun - by Serge ValentinMalt Maniacs - The ArchivesQuestions?Malt Maniacs - The ArchivesMM Archives - HomeMM Archives - Archive
2007 E-pistlesThe New Malt Maniacs website2003 E-pistles2005 E-pistles2008 E-pistles2009 E-pistles2010 E-pistles2011 E-pistles

Overview of E-pistes that were published in 2008

Malt Maniacs & Friends on FacebookJohannes van den Heuvel
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