Diving for Pearls in 2017

Hi. I am the creator.

Of Diving for Pearls. I write the posts and attempt to keep The Big Whisk(e)y list up to date. Sometimes I add things to the right side of the page. Sadly, if you're reading this on a mobile device, you can't see the right side of the page, which is a shame because it's amazing.

I live in Ohio. I used to live in Los Angeles County. My wife supports this blog and represents 25% of my readership. My daughter just graduated into pull-up diapers and threenager-dom. I'm doing some freelance work that's keeping me very busy right now, but will likely dry up just when it's getting good. Is this the face of an optimist?

This Blog

When I started this blog in 2007, I wrote about film, music and my personal life. In 2011, I went from being a whisky enthusiast to a full-on fanatic. Gradually, whisky-themed posts took over the entire blog. By 2013, my natural cynical tendency, which had slipped into the occasional post, had spread like a little drop of ink in a glass of water until it tinted every whisky thing I wrote.

In January 2015, I posted a three-part series entitled What Was the Scotch Boom, using public data supplied by the Scotch Whisky Association to illustrate the industry's financial reality and expose some of the myths in their narratives. Those posts garnered more reads in five days than I usually get in two months. In January 2016, I wrote a three-part follow-up called Scotch Ain't Dead Yet, updating the previous year's stats and charts, and re-examining the narratives. Again, readers seem to have enjoyed it.

My plan was to continue these studies, but the Scotch Whisky Association still hasn't released the data for 2015. If they do, then I will happily write another set of posts studying scotch whisky sales, volumes and prices. If they don't, well, I'll figure out something.

2017

So what about now? I spend an increasing percentage of my casual (read: note-free) alcoholic beverage indulgence sipping on drinks other than whisky. Taking beer and wine into consideration, non-whisk(e)y things make up almost half of my alcoholic drinks.

You will have noticed that an increasing contingent of excellent whisky bloggers have begun to mix in reviews of other aged spirits with their whisky posts. That's awesome, and I hope more whisky bloggers follow in their footsteps. As of this moment, I will not be joining them. I'm not prepared to pontificate on things I don't thoroughly know about. Yes, that puts me at odds with the raison d'être of the Internet.

But I'm having fun learning about non-whisky drinks and enjoying not having to consider their purpose in the cosmos. I also feel like I have a different palate than other whisky-bloggers-who-write-about-brandies-and-rums when it comes to other drinks. And I'm figuring out where to go with that.

My apologies for bombarding this site with Ardbeg reviews for the past two weeks. I had cleared my calendar space to write about the industry's financial condition. When the numbers didn't come out, I found inspiration in the Ardbeg Ten I'd just bought on sale. It was not particularly great whisky and my accumulation of Ardbeg samples had begun to get out of control. Thus all those reviews.

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday will start up again in a couple weeks. If I do choose to review non-whisky drinks, they will get their own day of the week as well so that you, the reader, will know which day to skip. I hope to do larger thinkpieces once a month (or two) about capital 'W' Whisky and small 'e' enthusiasts. And I look forward to visiting a number of American distilleries and then sharing with you what I've learned.

Not Booze

I have started and abandoned dozens of album reviews as if they were novels. Not so much with film reviews. In fact, I don't know how parents of young children get to watch any films at all. I don't watch television, and I think American politics is doing well enough publicly commenting on itself without the need for me to add to it.

My daughter and my work are the center of my life. The latter I complete anonymously, so I can't really get into it here, yet. I've chosen to tone down the frequency of posts about the former, for privacy purposes. When I do write about parenthood, it's a spur of the moment illustration of my failures (manifold!) and my successes (exiguous!). I've also reduced the amount of photos I've shared because she is her own person now (is she ever) and I'd like to protect her right to privacy. Parents who pummel social media with photos of their kids every day give me a weird feeling inside. I ponder the real purpose behind those posts, and I wonder who looks at those pictures outside of the intended audience.

Today, I'll just include this image of Emily Prime,
the star of The World of Tomorrow

Still, I will celebrate my daughter here on her birthday. And I should probably laud my young wife on hers. And goodness knows, this blog is a party on my birthday week.

To conclude

I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2017. If you're an American, please be careful about the quantity of alcohol you consume over the next four years. If you're from China, welcome! Drink single grain whisky! It's so much better than single malt whisky! If you're from another excellent country, thank you for reading my blog posts. How easy is it for a family of three to get citizenship?

As the kids in China say, 886.

Good things Thursday

The work week has been horrid up to this point and I can no longer enjoy a quick internet break since all media stories (sports, politics, culture, arts, etc.) have drowned in oceans of knee-jerk hyperbole.  The message is not instant.  We've all been forced, in the name of selling a story, to forget that so we're all missing the evolution of our collective lives.

But I've been thinking about the good things since I awoke this morning.

Strange swirls of cloud rolled in at daybreak.  They brought with them sunshowers.  For now the heat has been broken.  Thank you, skies.

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Dear reader, if you have a Trader Joes nearby, you may want to consider trying their White Cheddar with Carmelized Onions.  Holy moley.  It is good on everything.  EVERYTHING.  I'm going to buy it again next week and try it with Sriracha.  Also, regarding Sriracha: This.

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Jordan at Chemistry of the Cocktail has a great two-part piece on Non-Age-Statement whiskies that I recommend to all you anoraks.

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Finally, for whisky geeks,  THIS.  David Driscoll of K&L Wines has restarted his excellent podcast.  This week, he interviewed Rachel Barrie, one of the great Master Blenders.  Her background may be science, but she speaks of whisky like an artist, full of metaphysics, memories, and emotions.  Because she helped bring Ardbeg Uigeadail and Corryvreckan in the world, she'd already won my whisky heart.  But I could listen to her talk all day and night.  For now, the podcast is the closest I'll get to that.  Just put it on repeat while sitting in traffic.....  Anyway, she recently moved over to Morrison-Bowmore where she'll be weaving miracles with Bowmore, Glen Garioch, and Auchentoshan.  Thank you to David and Rachel!

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Alright, time to take on the day.  Deep breaths, y'all.

Weekend in review (or Thank You!)

Sometime last week, Diving for Pearls had its 25,000th pageview.  2400+ cities, 124 countries and counting...

Yes I made this.

Thank you, everyone!  Thank you, spammers who keep sending me "comments" that extoll the benefits of purchasing Tiffany and Rolex products, in Russian.  Na zdorovie!  Thank you, search engines and people looking for images of Famous Grouse, Fremont Street, windmills, and llamas!

A sincere Thank You to the online whisky community for welcoming me in and spreading the word!

And THANK YOU to every reader who has stopped by!  The posts shall continue.  My new job has made it difficult for me to opine as often as before.  There probably won't be any 6-post weeks, nor 5-post weeks.  But my goal is to publish three or four items each week, using the best words I can find or invent.

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The wife is out of town this weekend.

And you know what that means!

It's been two nights and, seriously, call FEMA.  I'd try to shovel my way out of this disaster I've created, but...well...the shovel is somewhere underneath that pile of dishes, laundry, opossums, mini apple pie wrappers, rotting onions, broken Hankey Bannister bottles, ethernet cables, shopping cart handles, and dead squash plants in the tub.

I've dug a path to the Whisky and what I think is the front door.

I smell something burning.  Must be the wine-cork-and-Domino's-pizza-box broth that's been simmering since Friday.

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Wednesday is Yom Kippur.  That means it's fasting time!

One thing I've noticed about a fast, is that it's slow.

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If I'm the first person who's said that, then shame on everyone.

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After last week's glut of independently bottled whiskies, I have a whole slew of classic official bottlings on the slate.  All (or 90% of 'em) are reasonably priced, as of today at least.  As much as I'm attracted to the newest shiny whisky thing, ALL OF THEM are priced irresponsibly.  So this site's whisky reporting will remain focused on cheaply- and moderately-priced booze.  Though I reserve the right to veer off the path when the situation presents itself.

Situations like this:

Birthday drams!

Finally, I'm happy to say that my first Dram Quest (see the right side of the page) is now coming to a successful end.  It's been a lovely mind (and liver?) expanding experience.  Thank you to those who assisted me with obtaining a couple of these dream drams.  One may note that some whiskys are crossed off but do not have a "DONE" next to them.  Well, those have yet to be reported on, though they are in my possession.

I have no idea what will be included in my next Dram Quest, but now's the time to dream it up.

Thirteen Hour Thursday ends and I think about whisky

Thirteen Hour Thursday has come to a close and I doubt it will be the last.  I just hope a Fourteen Hour Friday doesn''t follow.

I've just opened my 375mL bottle of Old Pulteney 12yr, tossed together a quick dinner and am settling in to catch up on blog reading before I go to bed and start the cycle all over again.

Last Sunday, I bought my first 750mL bottle of bourbon.  Buffalo Trace is its name.  It's open and it's tasty.  It's actually a single cask bottling (at 45%ABV), with the barrel chosen by the good folks at Hi Time.  It's similar to the usual Buffalo Trace, but I'm finding more spices and a little less vanilla.  It's an absolute miracle at $19.99.  Sorry, Scotch, you cannot compete at that price.

The birthday whisky buying is happening slowly and studiously.  I just placed a samples order via Master of Malt that will be sure to brighten up a long workday upon its arrival.

I've successfully kept to my $50-and-under-per-bottle rule all year, but I wonder if I should loosen that belt now that I'm employed.  Of course, I need to see a couple paychecks before any drastic purchases are made.

Here's one blog post I do want to share: How Age Statements Are Dividing The Whisky Industry by Oliver over at Dramming.com.  It's a brief but smart take on Macallan's 1824 Series and their company's attempt to equal quality with color(!) rather than age.

Macallan's Brand Ambassador says, "An age statement doesn’t give you any clues as to quality" and "Age statements have made us very lazy and one-dimensional".  While there may be some truth in the first statement, I don't think anyone really believes Macallan's song and dance.

Though many of us have critiqued Macallan's new branding decision, Oliver shines best with this brilliantly condensed knockout blow in his conclusion:

Macallan only replaces their 10 to 17 year old expressions with NAS bottlings. Why not the famous 18 and 25 year olds? If age did not matter at all, they could have got rid of those as well.

Using their products to debunk their branding pitch.  Love it!

Anyway, let's get through the rest of this week, okay?

As seen at the Long Beach Flea Market.  I present this without comment.

A Big Transition

Because.

On Tuesday morning, I was an unemployed writer just trying my best to not let the days slip away.  I kept making sure I was doing some writing, going to the gym, searching for paid work, fighting a malaise that had been growing larger every day over a full year.

On Wednesday morning, I was a production accountant for a blossoming company, waking up at 5:30am, navigating a 12-hour work day, getting home to eat only two hours before I had to go back to sleep.

No longer could I cook dinner.  I had to wake up even earlier to water the plants.  I had to rearrange my workout schedule.  And, OOPS!, what about the blog???

The shift in energy has been very jarring.  During the week I missed my MacBook Pro, my writing desk, my Taste Offs, and my wife (not necessarily in that order).  I didn't miss all of the political 'news' and sports 'news'.  I didn't miss our crazy old neighbor who shouts at the top of her lungs when she talks, with her door open, her television roaring at full volume, all day.

I knew the work environment was going to be challenging, but I underestimated the degree.  I'd spent most of the past year by myself.  Now I'm surrounded by dozens of people non-stop.  And some of those people, apparently, have no interest in treating me like a human being.  Welcome back to The Industry!

I am uncomfortable with a lot of this.  But I am aware that most of my gripes are due to this abrupt lifestyle change.  Am I a little over my head in the job?  Yes, but I can do the work and I can do it well with a minimum of external obstruction.  Am I excited about the largest paycheck I've ever gotten?  Yes, but I know what I'm selling of myself is very valuable.  Could things have continued the way they were?  No.

For financial and emotional reasons, there needed to be a change.  Honestly, it's important for me to know my services are needed by employers.  And I have gotten what I'd asked for:  A very needy job.  Now it's time to provide.

How does the change effect this blog?  Well, in theory, I'll feel less guilty about buying whisky.  :D  I'm working out a blogging schedule for myself so that I can post with frequency and consistency.  Diving for Pearls gives me joy.  Meeting people through this site continues to be wonderful!  Many thanks to everyone who stops by to read some of my musings.  They are continuing.

I did promise a whisky report this weekend.  Well......I did a Taste Off last night that turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  I'm spending some time today writing it up.  You'll see more about it soon...