Whisky Forum - Whisky Reviewers & Bloggers

eelbrook · Master Of Malts Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 648

A little something to ease lockdown boredom.

Do you have the details of any well respected and well followed whisky writer, reviewer or blogger? Are you one yourself?

It'd be great to have a list of the big players.

Thanks

Alexppp · Master Of Malts Joined: 16 Jul 2010 Posts: 1791

Without question for me, my most trusted reviewer is Serge Valentin at whiskyfun.com. Whenever I come across a new whisky, he's my go-to for a review. Also it helps that I know his tastes very well, so it's easy to guess whether I'm going to like a whisky or not even if our opinions don't align.

For alternative opinions I sometimes go to whiskynotes.be and thedramble.com. The latter has a tendency to preface reviews with medium-sized novels but you can always skip them if not in the mood.

TheWM · Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 10:44 am Post subject:

Deffo Serge. It would be churlish to not consider his opinions given the rate of spirits he goes through. His notes are pretty spot on and 2 or 3 drams aside I score similar to him. Itâ€™s nice he does do malternatives too as I do like rum and cognac too.

TheMaster · Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:47 pm Post subject:

Defo Serge. I think the important thing eith reviewersis to find one that has a similar presence and/or palate style to your own. Like TheWM I tend to find myself making notes and reading Serge's reviews after with similar things in them, so I take his scores seriously.o ky a few times have I bought stuff after a review of his and found it not to my liking, but that's rare.

Some reviewers I just don't find match my palate and are way off from what I find in a spirit, although they may be well regarded reviewers. This is where personal preference comes in.

Sorren will be along soon both doubt plugging his blog Laughing

Quaich1 · Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:55 pm Post subject:

On my side of the pond, Davin de Kergommeaux is an excellent whisky writer

In his own words:

"Iâ€™M DAVIN DE KERGOMMEAUX. FOR WELL OVER TWO DECADES, I HAVE BEEN WRITING ABOUT WHISKY, PRESENTING WHISKY SEMINARS AND LEADING TASTING WORKSHOPS ON FOUR CONTINENTS, AS WELL AS JUDGING INTERNATIONAL WHISKY COMPETITIONS SUCH AS THE WORLD WHISKY AWARDS AND THE MALT MANIACS AWARDS.
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"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

lincoln imp · Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:25 pm Post subject:

I agree about Serge Valentin and leading on from there I also use the Malt Maniacs whisky monitor for their scores.
Ralphy.com is another one I dip in & out of.
There is also Whiskybase, I have got to know people on there, and I value their opinions also because they are unbiased.
One thing I have trouble with is bloggers reviewing free samples they get continually sent by certain drinks companies, their scoring can be biased at times for obvious reasons.
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Pour me a glass please.

TheMaster · Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 10:56 am Post subject:

Don't ever trust a reviewer that has never given a bad review. Theres plenty if rubbish out there and if it's always rated a minimum of "average" then I take no notice. These 100 point scales used by most are hilarious, ever see a score of 20? No. Usually the lowest you get is 70ish, sometimes the upper 60's, well that's not a bell curve I'm afraid.

I do understand that many reviewers provide scores for whisky they buy, and they tend to buy what they like, so scores will be skewed high, but shy prior reviewer worth their salt should be buying "unknowns" and scoring them appropriately, which means low if they are not good.

Ralfy for one only reviews stuff he feels worthy of review (stuff he thinks is decent). Well that's not the point of a review site is it! We need to know what's rubbish so we don't buy it.

MattS · Master Of Malts Joined: 23 Apr 2018 Posts: 529

Along with most of those mentioned above I also follow Malt-Review and there are plenty on YouTube these days too.

Alexppp · Master Of Malts Joined: 16 Jul 2010 Posts: 1791

TheMaster · Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 2:07 pm Post subject:

eelbrook · Master Of Malts Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 648

Super helpful. Thank you.

MattS · Master Of Malts Joined: 23 Apr 2018 Posts: 529

eelbrook · Master Of Malts Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 648

I am a SMWS member. To my palate, a few of their bottlings are amazing, the majority are OK, and a few are diabolical.

But a London blogger never had a bad word to say about them.

deadz101 · Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 9:29 pm Post subject:

Malt, Serge and whiskybase are my go toâ€™s as well. Iâ€™ve met Ralfy and bought one of his bottles, his videos are decent and sends the right message for whisky enthusiasts, I think, but had never heard of him until I met him at a relatively local spirits merchant. A lovely bottle too, Ben Nevis 4 yo that would wipe the floors of a lot of whiskies up to 15yo.

sorren · Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2020 7:53 pm Post subject:

I do have a blog but I try not to push it on people, I give an opinion and thatâ€™s it.. I donâ€™t believe whisky in general is bad, rather it just does not suit our palate which does not make it bad.. There are those out there who give low scores and persistently give low scores, this does not make it an honest review !! Serge is fantastic but my advice is to always read a cross section of reviews, blogs and so on.. We all only give an opinion.. In the end itâ€™s up to the reader to make their own mind up..