No Ice(land) in My Whisky

The Whisky Couple

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

About four months ago Becky and I received an e-mail invitation from a Canadian gentleman who presented himself as a marketing executive of a management consulting agency. That is not my line of business, but reading the e-mail I quickly grasped what the man and I shared in common — a sincere love of the drink called whisk(e)y. Said man, Sylvain Allard, referred to his Web site www.whiskycompetition.com.

At the time, I was in Charleston working on the manuscript of Bourbon & Blues, the sequel to Whisky & Jazz; hence, I was living in the same time zone as Mr. Allard, who is based in Quebec. Wanting to know more about his invitation and our joint fascination, I set up a skype conversation with him. Soon it became clear to me that he was seriously planning to set up an international whisky competition — the umpteenth one, was my first reaction. However, by listening to him explain the way he would organize the tasting, I became more interested and over the next week we frequently skyped, a verb that will soon find its way into the dictionary, if that hasn’t happened already.

Mr. Allard is not only fascinated by whisky but also by social media. He’d invited several people to become judges at his planned competition that would take place in Chicago. The idea was to broadcast the event on the Web, using Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Linked-in, Hyves, live video streams, e-mail and any other means of digital communication.

Having spent part of my professional career in digital media, I was immediately interested in his idea, which had the potential to distinguish itself from previous whisky competitions. The event being held in Chicago gave me another impetus. I could visit a few blues clubs, doing additional research for Bourbon & Blues. So we agreed, and two weeks later we left Charleston for Europe. Soon the official dates of the whisky competition were made known to us, April 8-10, with ample time to enjoy the city. It meant we would have to fly back to the USA only a month after we’d returned to our home in The Netherlands, but what the heck. This looked like a very interesting opportunity to combine social media with my favorite drink. When I mentioned the event in an e-mail to our intrepid publisher and editor-in-chief, Charles Waring, he immediately contacted Rosanna Krekel, an independent PR agent working and living partly in Charleston and partly in New York City. He asked her to set up a few book signings for Whisky & Jazz in the Big Apple and planned it immediately after our Chicago gig. So far, so good.

The Whisky Competition went very well. Picture our panel, consisting of a Scotsman, a Canadian, a Belgian, a Dutchman and two Americans. During three days we blind-sampled more than 50 whiskies and whiskeys, whilst people following us on the web could see the name of the whisk(e)y we tasted. A very interesting experience indeed. Eventually a stunning 25-year-old Suntory Japanese single malt was the overall winner with the highest score, but there were winners in a variety of different categories, such as premium blends, single malts and North American whiskey.

Between the sampling sessions there was time to explore Chicago. Among other adventures we visited the Art Institute, took in the view of the city from the Hancock Tower, strolled the Navy Pier and visited Buddy Guy’s Blues Legends club. There we enjoyed the Lonnie Brooks Band and encountered living legend Bruce Iglauer, founder of Alligator Records and discoverer of Hound Dog Taylor, among many other famous blues musicians. So far, so good.

After five days in the Windy City we transferred to NYC, where Rosanna had set up book signings with Park Avenue Wine & Liquor, one of the most famous whisky retailers in the world, and Union Square Liquors at the eponymous square. The latter is a wine and spirits shop wonderfully designed to hold events in their back room. The proprietor had contracted a jazz combo, and his most valued customers came streaming in. All whisky importers of the brands mentioned in Whisky & Jazz had their own stands. People could sample and listen at the same time and talk with us about the book. Among them was Peter Silver, the famous jazz-dentist of NYC and one of the revered Malt Maniacs, of whom there are only 24 in the world. They have taken tasting to the extreme and are considered an influential group in the world of whisky. Mr. Silver loved the combination of music and malt, and when I told him I’d done another whisky book (The Legend of Laphroaig) with a Dutch colleague of his, his evening only got better. So far, so good.

Rosanna, whom we met for the first time, turned out to be a real gem and suggested some interesting things for us to do when off duty. For me, only having been there once for two days, it was an opportunity to get to know NYC a tiny bit better. High on my agenda were the John Lennon Memorial in Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum. We stayed in a nice apartment in the upper West side, with shops, restaurants and bars nearby. We thoroughly enjoyed the city for a few days, albeit it that my heart lies in the Southeast, in Charleston, and that will be forever. So far, so good.

The day we were to fly back, we got up rather early and checked the Web site to confirm our flight was on time. The evening before, we’d heard somber stories in the pub across from our temporary dwelling about a volcano in Iceland … however, the airline Web site informed us there were no delays so we decided to go to JFK. Then, disaster struck. Deep was our disappointment when upon arrival we were confronted with the words “flight canceled.” We were directed to a line of people and were eventually summoned to the desk of a tired looking airline employee. After having shown him our itinerary, he looked at us like a sad dog. “I can get you on a flight two weeks from now,” he sighed, already anticipating verbal abuse. I can be a bit high strung in such situations, so I usually leave this kind of thing in the capable hands of the Famous Spouse, who has far more empathy and patience.

Kindly she explained to the man that we had to catch a ferry to Scotland from Europe in eight days and it would be impossible to wait that long for a new flight. The man was susceptible to her charm. When Becky suggested he might book us on a partner airline, his eyes lit up, his fingers hit the keyboard and within 35 seconds a broad smile appeared on his stubbled face. “What about in a week? I can have you flown to Munich and from there the next day to Amsterdam!” A quick calculation revealed that we would have exactly one day to change suitcases in Zwolle and then get in the car, racing to Amsterdam to catch the ferry to Newcastle. I frowned and didn’t utter a single syllable, staring into the distance, looking annoyed. “I recommend you accept this flight. It will be gone in no time, since we have to re-schedule 19 million passengers worldwide,” the attendant said to Becky. She nodded with a sigh and he printed our temporary boarding passes. “Your husband doesn’t respond. He’s okay?” the attendant wanted to know. “Leave him be,” Becky responded, “He doesn’t like Iceland in his whisky.”

Slainte Mhath,

The Whisky Couple

www.thewhiskeycouple.com