{"id":9224,"date":"2018-12-31T17:19:25","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/?p=9224"},"modified":"2019-09-05T12:38:14","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T11:38:14","slug":"2018-in-review-catch-up-and-best-drams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/2018-in-review-catch-up-and-best-drams\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 in review – catch-up and best drams"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
I probably owe you maltyheads friends a catch-up ? I published a quick instastory yesterday (hey, if you’ve missed me as much as I’ve missed you, you can still follow me on Instagram – @thewhiskylady – which is probably the only network I’m active on x)) <\/em>summarizing my year 2018 month by month.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 2018 was the first full year for The Hopscotch Pub & Brewery, and what an intense, glorious, stressful but immensely productive year it was !<\/strong> Amongst many great events and encounters, we released our first range of bottled beers, our first selected whisky bottling with Compass Box, developped merchandising, improved our offer (350 whiskies behind the counter and still counting)<\/em>, service and premises month after month, we brought all our bar team to Scotland to tour distilleries and breweries, celebrated our first barnniversary, held many TTOs, whisky tastings and organised our own whisky festival. Oh and let me tell you that we’re not going to slow things down in 2019 as many projects are on the pipeline, including the second edition of our Toulouse Whisky Festival which should be epic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n On a more personal level, I joined the crazy BREWDOG team<\/strong> as a beer ambassador for the South of France early July and yeap, the first 6 months in a new role are always the most time-consuming, intense and enriching, meaning I had less time to allow to my blogging activities as I was spending more time drinking and talking craft beer.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Why would I decide to work in the beer industry and step aside from whisky ? First things first, I haven’t stepped aside from whisky<\/strong> and both industries have A LOT in common. As much as I enjoy my whisky, I had reached a point mid-2018 where it started to feel too much like “work” rather than “fun” and as soon as it happens I knew I needed to take action, because there’s no worse feeling than having a dram with friends and not being able to enjoy it because your stupid brain can’t help but overthinking the liquid your body is absorbing – “ooooh this is thick and oily and I feel nice aromas of coconut oil and … hmmm what’s this in the background, I know it rrrr, come on what is it….bdbczubuzefbrf! #OUTOFSERVICE”<\/em>. I know many of you working in the whisky industry know exactly what I mean, I’ve discussed this with a lot of you along this last year and I feel I have taken the best decision : go drink some beer instead and whisky will naturally come back in your heart. It did, thanks god.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I am now embracing a new approach to whisky appreciation which basically consists of not giving a single fuck.<\/strong> I drink whisky when I feel like it, I only take it seriously when I’m paid for it and I don’t feel bad for ordering a cider instead of a dram. So as you can imagine, I haven’t tasted as many whiskies this year as the previous years, but the ones I’ve sampled felt pretty special and not just a number on a list (we’ll get to my “best of 2018” at the end of the article ;))<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I’ve also cleared my sample library lately and that felt so good, I had been keeping half empty, doubles or samples I knew I would never open for far too long, gathering dust pretty much everywhere in my house (mind you, there were even boxes of samples under my bed)<\/em>. Don’t freak out, I didn’t throw anything away but gave them to people around me that were quite happy! My shelves clearer made my mind clearer as well and I now feel more than ready to start 2019 !<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n On another bright side, I had the chance to contribute to new publications in 2018, work alongside genuinely awesome and inspiring people and finished the year by signing my first book deal<\/strong> \\o\/ – I cannot wait for the second part of 2019 to have the very first hard copy in my hands now (French material though, so you’d better start the French lessons right now :p)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n So let’s get into it, you’ve been waiting for it hm? My best drams of 2018<\/strong> (as usual I have voluntarily decided to stick to rather affordable whiskies)<\/em> !<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Cotswolds Debut Single Malt\u00a0
<\/strong>“Very exciting stuff here, folks! This is the first single malt whisky from the Cotswolds Distillery (as well as being the first single malt whisky ever distilled in the Cotswold countryside!). A much-anticipated release, which has been produced using barley grown in the Cotswolds, distilled in their Forsyths copper pot stills (Mary & Janis) and aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and red wine casks.”\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n