{"id":17162,"date":"2022-12-27T13:11:12","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T13:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/?p=17162"},"modified":"2024-04-02T13:23:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T13:23:28","slug":"the-whisky-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.battleface.com\/blog\/the-whisky-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigel Kelly: On the Whisky Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"Approx read: <\/span> 5<\/span> mins<\/span><\/span>

Whisky Tourism is the new frontier for an ancient brew.<\/h2>\n

Nigel Kelly<\/a>, raconteur, educator, hunter and collector of all things whisk(e)y shares his thoughts on the billions of whisky-tourist dollars connected to distilleries and their wares.<\/h3>\n

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Making great whisky is 10% science, 10% art, and 80% black magic<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to like alcohol or drinking to love whisky, but it sure helps. Whisky or whiskey, (depending on the bottle you\u2019re opening) comes from Gaelic ‘uisge beatha<\/em>\u2019 meaning water<\/u><\/em>, and of life<\/u><\/em> \u2013 a description that creates perfect sense in my pursuit of whisky knowledge and experiences because I love being in the ocean and like most people I know, I\u2019m quite fond of living.<\/p>\n

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Swimming in the freezing sea at Ardbeg Distillery on Scottish Isle of Islay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first shot of whisky that I slugged was preceded by a description from the bottle promising aromas and taste sensations that would transport me somewhere transcendental. Truth be told it was as pleasant as licking an ashtray.<\/p>\n

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Anointing the haggis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As it transpires, serving a 10-year-old Laphroaig to a thirsty novice isn\u2019t the ideal route to nurturing a taste for this stuff. I wasn\u2019t ready, I didn\u2019t get it. So, I packed away any thoughts of drinking whisky until another glass was handed to me that fired my synapses as much as my taste buds.<\/p>\n

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Master Blender (Dalmore) the mercurial Richard Paterson aka \u2018The Nose\u2019 https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/richard.paterson.thedalmore\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If it sounds clich\u00e9 to say that a random whisky-moment influenced what I decided I\u2019d do with the rest of my professional career, then I\u2019ll live with that\u2026 but being the type of person I am, I knew that I wanted to know more than anyone else in any room what made whisky – any whisky – so incredible, or not. So now, I live, read, talk, discuss, argue (a lot), drink, taste (mmmm) and collect whiskies (or bourbons) and travel to discover and know more.<\/p>\n

And on the whisky travel scene, I\u2019m never alone.<\/p>\n

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Opening time for Whisky Tourism<\/h4>\n

I always thought it inevitable that a worldwide boom in whisky drinking and appreciation would produce a response in whisky tourism and whisky-themed festivals. Visit Scotland<\/a> reported that pre-Covid tourism numbers will be surpassed by the end of 2022 with over 2 million visitors recorded at distilleries and specialist stores across Scotland\u2019s 5 whisky regions<\/a>, while the Irish economy saw a huge bounce<\/a> from demand for whiskey and the related tourism-themed activities.<\/p>\n

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Stateside, things look even bigger with the Kentucky Bourbon Trail,<\/a> set to break its 2017 record of 1.7 million visitors to its distilleries, while the American Whiskey Trail<\/a> keeps on smashing their records on visitor numbers and litres consumed.<\/p>\n

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Masataka Taketsuru\u2019s original journal while working at Hazelbutn Distillery from May 1920. This journal provided the basis for the start of the Japanese Whisky industry and is the blueprint document for the birth of the 3 most important Japanese Whisky Companies, namely Suntory (Yamasaki, Hakushu), Nikka (Yoichi and Miyagikyo) and Hombo Shuzu (Yamanashi Mars)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the international tourism numbers aren\u2019t as high as elsewhere, Japanese distilleries can\u2019t be excluded from this surge in interest and were the first to consider that the visitor experience<\/a> to the site should match the quality of their award-winning<\/a> products.<\/p>\n

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Whiskey (bourbon) being ‘dumped’ from the barrel ready to be bottled – Buffalo Trace Distillery, Kentucky https:\/\/twitter.com\/BuffaloTrace<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Who would say \u2018NO\u2019 to a party? <\/em><\/h4>\n

Whisky festivals are a personal favourite of mine, with the biggest and best of them still holding on to their origins of being community celebrations of the traditions and origins of whisky in their heritage. The Spirit of Speyside<\/a> and Islay\u2019s F\u00e8is \u00ccle<\/a> are both on my bucket list for 2023, though sacrifices might have to be made if I\u2019m also going to rock up to New York for their whiskey shindig<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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At the legendary Port Ellen Distillery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NZ, Australia, India, Taiwan, Israel, England, Sweden and Norway. There is some great whiskey coming out of these new locations with distilleries that I know that I\u2019ll have to get busy seeing.<\/p>\n

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\u20ac5500.00 for an EMPTY bottle that previously contained 35yo Yamazaki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I worry that after I die my family will sell my whiskey for what I told them I paid for it… <\/em><\/h4>\n

Having knowledge of whisky opens the potential for travelling on funds raised from buying and selling it \u2013 and that\u2019s the dream for a whisky nut like me. Yes, I\u2019ve curated a collection, though it\u2019s never ever going to be completed…. Some I\u2019ll drink eventually, and some I\u2019ll speculate on, if my patience holds. The dynamics of a bottle\u2019s value is quite simple really; it\u2019s always supply and demand.<\/p>\n

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A superstar batch of whiskey from a long-shuttered Japanese distillery gets more expensive for every one of the remaining 127 bottles that is opened. Like wine, it\u2019s a waiting game. Still, there are millions like me that dream of owning \u2018that\u2019 bottle, and we\u2019re increasingly prepared to jump on a plane and visit the locations where the next amazing whisky is quietly distilling or maturing, waiting to be owned and thought of as a piece of valuable art (that you might stick in your mouth\u2026).<\/p>\n

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The best piece of whisky advice I ever received was\u2026<\/em><\/h4>\n

Happy is the man whose favourite whisky only costs $30 \u2013 because it’s easy to be sucked in the whisky-vortex of thinking that paying more will be commensurate with quality. It doesn\u2019t work like that. Clever clogs in the marketing departments can make an average whisky look so pretty with packaging and fluff that it sells.<\/p>\n

Still, its near Christmas and there\u2019s nothing at all wrong with handing me a bottle of whatever.<\/p>\n

Sl\u00e0inte<\/p>\n

Travel to inspire – Food<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n