My name is Curt. And I have a problem.

It’s not a deal nor a test nor a love of something fated.

It’s the fact that I work in the whisky world. Most of you are probably aware I spend most of my waking hours at Kensington Wine Market in Calgary. KWM is sorta like the Malt Mecca of Canada. Twice now the store has been runner-up for World Whisky Retailer of the year. Yup. We’re just that good. And humble.

I’m telling you this (or maybe just reiterating this, if it’s something you already knew) to give you some idea as to where I’ve been and what’s happened to the site over the last year or so. (Hint: nothing. Nothing has happened here). The simple truth is that I was finding it hard to balance my work responsibilities with my prime directive: honesty. Let me show you what I mean…

One evening many, many months back I wrote a couple reviews for the site. One was a rather positive review for a malt I liked. The other…maybe not so positive. The whisky in question was sulphury and…well…flawed. I published one. I went to publish the second and sorta pumped the brakes. We have loads of this stuff left on the shelves. If I talk shit about it, who’s going to buy it? Then I thought, just wait until it sells out, then publish. But that theory comes with its own problems. I could just see someone at some point calling me out: if you knew it was shit, why did you let me buy it? 

I struggled with this until just a few days ago. Then I decided, too bad. This site has been around for a long time. Ten years. It deserves better than to die a slow, whimpering death, relegated to the periphery of online whisky lore, while daily visits continue to drop. So…I had a sit-down with Andrew. Andrew “Scotchguy” Ferguson, that is. I’m sure you know him from his monolithic online presence, if not as the owner of KWM. I told him where I was at with it, and he was in absolute agreement: get ‘er back up and running.

And the thing about negative reviews? Well…two things, actually: 1) Caveat emptor. Buyer beware. What I write here (in terms of reviews, anyway) is one man’s opinion, and in no way an attempt to push opinion as fact. Almost every online retailer out there now has a review system on their site. I often read user reviews, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with them, or base my own purchasing on them. And 2) At any given time, probably 75% of what we sell in-store is open for tasting. If I feel a whisky is not great, I simply don’t suggest it to customers. If they want it, however, and can try before buying? Hey…they’ve bought based on their own tastes, and I respect that. Especially if they are bucking the trend and going against the tide. There’s a deep-seated honesty in forging your own path and ignoring the din of voices all shouting in chorus.

Additionally…I will still be reviewing store-exclusive casks from time to time. We do a lot of these. Fair warning: these scores will almost certainly be uniformly high. Is this a conflict of interest? No. Not in my opinion, anyway. I’ve helped select these barrels for purchase, based on empirical evidence (i.e. my own tasting experience with them) and knowing that they were good. Sometimes great, even. Would I stand behind a purchase worth tens of thousands of dollars if I didn’t think the whisky was good? Of course not. And again…you can always come in and try for yourself. Our track record for selling entire barrels in record time is legendary. That, in my mind, speaks volumes about the level of quality we insist upon.

In short…we’re back, baby.

ATW will look a bit different going forward. Not sure what that means yet, but we’ll figure it out together. I do know that reviews will look a bit different. The content will be similar, but the format may be tweaked a little. Gotta keep it fresh for myself too, aye? And, at the same time, try to keep to a framework that people know and recognize. A few more inside jokes, a bucketload of non sequiturs, and some occasionally surreal ramblings will likely be par for the course too. Oh, and perhaps the odd diatribe.

I’m kinda hoping to recruit a few guest writers into the fold. There are several reasons for this, but it mostly comes down to injecting new life into the site and sharing the workload. As of now – until I find my ‘Angus’, anyway – reviews will all still be mine. I sorta feel like this is the only way to maintain consistency. You guys have learned to understand my palate, if not necessarily trust it. It would be disingenuous to let someone else start scoring whisky here until I am positive their tastes nearly mirror my own.

I’ll be leading another crew back to Scotland in a couple months, too. Six of us in total. It promises to be an absolute blast, so you can almost certainly expect some jottings on that l’il endeavor as well. Hopefully some stories, a handful of reviews and some random musings. We’ll see what shakes out.

Also, the sinDicate Single Malt Society is going great guns. Coolest whisky club around. I’m really proud of this one. The Dram Initiative was great, but sin is next level. And cheeky as f*ck, to boot. Which is, of course, my MO. We’ll share a bit more about that in coming days too, including some notes on the club’s first cask purchase. Exciting stuff.

Anyway…it’s good to be back. I’ve missed you guys and gals.

 – Curt

You hear that rumbling? Like a great old engine awakened from a long slumber? Me too. I think it’s time. The monster has awoken.

You ready to do this all over again, friends?

Hey, friends.

Appreciate the outpouring of support over the past week or so.  The site went down, as many of you know, and the amount of people I had contact me was a little overwhelming.  I’m beyond flattered.  Especially in light of my utter delinquency of late.  You’re good people, and I appreciate you.

AS for the issue itself?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  The message you would have seen referred to the account being suspended or something.  It was nothing more than a technical f___-up.  A buddy of mine hosts the site for me, for which I pay him and he pays on further.  Unfortunately, he had migrated to a new host and the direct billing to CC didn’t go as planned.  Oops.

Alas, all is well.  Up and running.  Well…walking.  Errr…limping along.  Alright, let’s face it.  I’ve been at a complete standstill.  Priorities are elsewhere right now.  I do have intentions to come back to this (at least part time) in the very near future.  Next review will almost certainly be Ardbeg Grooves.  But in the meantime, I’ve been busy.  Work, yes, but it’s more my free time I’m referring to.  If you care for the reason, read on.  If not, rest easy, the site is still here and under no threat of disappearing.

Last week I finished the first draft of my third novel.  It’s called “The Colony” and it’s the biggest and (IMHO) best yet.  It’s been a monster to undertake and I’m not finished with it yet.  I’ve been working through the rewrite as we speak, so that I can turn it over to my ‘editor’ and the select few that constitute my ‘peer reviewers’ at some point in the next couple of weeks.  The story itself is a blurring of lines between historical fiction and folk horror.  It’s a split narrative that alternates between present day Oregon/Massachusetts and 1690s Salem.  Yes, for those of you historically-inclined, that was indeed the time of the Salem Witch Trials.  But, of course, the tale couldn’t be that simple.  Let’s just leave it at that.  Wink and nudge.

I’ve yet to really do anything with my second novel (“Rotten Soil”), but I will be either shopping it or self-publishing soon.  My first short story (“Sadie”) and my first novel (“Darker Things”) are both on Amazon.  “Rotten Soil” will have its time in the light too, but I’m not sure exactly when.  In the meantime, however, this new one has my heart.  I need to wrap it up.  Not least because book four has been conceived.  It’s itching away in my noggin and wants out.  It will be called “Balance” and it’s already kinda disturbing me.

Anyway…something had to give.  There are only so many hours in the day.  That something was whisky reviews.  I’ll try to do better for you all going forward.  Bear with me.

More to come.

Thanks a million for all of your support.  Sincerely.

C