Boring?

@Jonesz I don't mind about the update, but I find there is less and less new reviews. Amoung the new reviews a lot of them are about new batch of well known whisky. It is usefull but I would like to see more reviews about new bottles.

One of the problem with a worldwide site is the availability of products. And with the new popularity of whisky it is getting worst. What I refer to is that it is hard to be interested by a bottle that you never heard of and that is not available in your Continent. Right now, I would like to see more Asian and more European to write reviews. I have to write more reviews. I like this site so I have a question for everybody: If it is true that the site is becoming boring, what will we do about it? Me, I will write 2 reviews in the next month. What about you?

@Jonesz I agree the activity on this site has slowed in the last few weeks, but I believe it to be a cyclical phenomenon. I don't think that it is unique to this site. All Things Whisky has also shown a decline. And my own participation on other sites has dropped.

There are probably a few factors at play:

1. A decreasing number of affordable interesting malts. This leaves less to discuss and is also pushing people away to other spirits. And with higher prices there are fewer purchases so fewer posts.

2. A hot summer is less conducive to whisky consumption. A warm winter may do the same (I hear it's summer weather in wintery Brisbane right now).

3. What to talk about? I sense people are less enthusiastic about posting every dram they drink in real time so there is less "what are you drinking now?"

This site is only as interesting as the people who take part. It's up to us, not the hosts, to keep it interesting. A quick review of my own activity - I've done 55 reviews in 4 years on Connosr but 10 of those have been over the last 2 months. There are others who have hundreds and are still churning them out. So I think there remains some interest among a few people.

It would be nice to have more people contribute regularly, but it has to be voluntary and fun, and we need to welcome and encourage new members into the "family", so a hearty welcome to new member @TheWhiskyColect who joined today and has already posted

I don't think a new look will change things. There may be an upsurge in interest when it comes online, but ultimately it will depend on quality participation.

@ Robert99, I will do my best to match your 2 reviews before I head off for a vacation in August. I would start now but I'm on call, and tomorrow.... I have plans...

Unfortunately most whisky sites at this time of year go quiet.. So many of us drop out drinking habits, so therefore reviews drop too, there may be less reviews but the quality of them has not changed..

A couple of the replies so far have focused on participation rather than the site itself. I agree and have been as much to blame as anyone. I will try to get into the habit of posting reviews and vow to do a couple in the next two weeks. I will also try read more reviews and reply to them as well to show my appreciation for the effort the writer has made. I am not really interested in "what are you drinking now" threads and usually skip them anyway. The hot weather at this time of year may well be the major reason and that may be due to the preponderance of participants from the northern hemisphere along with the popularity of Whisky/Whiskey in the north. I don't want to come across as a "grumpy old man" although at times I am. Just don't want my favourite whisky site to keep declining in participants and am impatient to see what new and interesting things a new look for the site might bring.

I do like to read the reviews here. I wonder if the rising costs of whisky and bourbon are keeping people from posting. One thing that bothers me is reviews of sampler bottles. I wonder how someone can write a full blown review after sampling a mere couple ounces of whisky.

My opinion is that the people make the site not the look and set out.. This site has some very knowledgable people on which in its self makes this a very interesting site for me.. Although I don't always contribute I do check in regular.. For me I'm happy for it to stay like it is.. But yes with a few more posts.. S for reviews from samples.. The review is about the sample.. Your perspective will be different when drinking more off a bottle, that's why most people that review from a sample will disclose it was a sample..

@

Further to that, I would say samples are a great way to expand the experience for less money, as you can taste and learn from something you would either never think to buy or that would end up on your shelf for years otherwise.

Also, samples and minis have helped me to determine whether to buy a whole bottle or not, resulting in heavy savings.

Properly bottles samples from well-maintained or fresh bottles have no more variation than bottle to bottle, and I can usually get enough out of them to do a review. Even with full bottles we often come back to the, and make changes.

The other point to reviewing from a full size bottle.. When do you do the review ? First glass, a third down, half way, almost empty.. Each of these will give a slightly different perspective.. So a 3-5 cl sample isn't any different.. Of course this is only my opinion.. And like said its a good way to determine if you buy a full bottle of not..

I find that I concentrate more on my own reviews these days. I usually write a review on connosr, see if it gets any response, check for spelling mistakes and post them on my own site afterwards. I've become less involved with the forum. I believe connosr might suffer from the many blogs and sites with revies that have appeared over the last few years. Many writers have decided that they want a place of their own. Also with whiskybase.com becoming one of the mayor sources for info and scores, pure review based sites like connosr may have lost a lot of visitors, but as @Nozinan says, we the writers are responsible for bringing them (back) in.

Whisky discussion in general has slowed. And stagnated. Unfortunately there was a lot of overkill, I think. Lots of blogs, lots of opinions, lots of public outlets. I think we reached a point of 'what is there left to say that we haven't all heard?'

Additionally, things have become somewhat adversarial. With the deepening divisions between consumer and producer over issues such as stratospheric (and climbing) prices, NAS malts, lack of transparency, etc, it has become a case of 'either you're with us or against us'. What it has resulted in, it seems, is two camps. One which is the whiner or squeaky wheel and the other that is seen as an industry apologist.

Finally...those rising costs have started to price us mere mortals out of the ease of access we had to new material and review fodder. Malts I used to buy are now about 40% higher than they were a couple years ago. Ouch.

Just my two cents.

Anyway...still love the drink. Still love the people. Will do my best to be a bit more regular on ATW in the future. It's been a rough 2016. But...onwards and upwards. Peace.

From where I stand I think that @antihero has hit the nail on the head.

Like him, I still love the drink and I still love the people. That said, a lot of the elements of the hobby have gotten to be a lot less fun and a lot more expensive in the last several years.

Agreed. The whole conversation around whisky has gone stale. Most of us are sick to death of the NAS debate and feeling like we are being bled dry when it comes to prices. All they have to do is tell us it's a limited edition, or a special, never to be seen again bottling, and we're fighting it out to see who can throw their money at them fastest. The single malt Scotch whisky industry has got us rightly pegged as a bunch of easily fleeced saps. As for the blogging "industry" , except for a few genuinely knowledgeable and honest reviewers, most of the current crop of bloggers are writing what I call " free sample bait". These sad bastards will do and say anything to gain the coveted insider status.

Something needs to change soon, or a lot of us will just be satisfied with what we consider good value whiskies, of which there are still many, and quit falling for all the industry bullshit. I would hate to do it, because I love good single malt Scotch, but if need be I'll just move on to something else. The only way to fight them is with our wallets, although they probably could care less because these days they are marketing to very well off, elite buyers who seem to think that snapping up $10,000 or $20,000 Macallans and Dalmores makes them look anything other than incredibly stupid..

Cheers

Agree with @Jonesz and @antihero

We all get to this stage at sometime or another. I still pop into the site to read a few of the threads, like the EPIC TASTINGS and I dream of tasting some of these fine whiskeys.

Its too bad that the mail system won't allow us to send 50 ml samples of whiskey to each other. The EPIC TASTINGS would expand to the far corners.

Keep sharing. the experience,

Benancio

I hear what you all are basically saying and agree that the lack of exciting whiskies here in Canada plus the exorbitant cost has taken away much of the fun of this hobby. Have recently started side journey into Bourbons and while they are not cheap here they are more affordable for an oldster like me on

Sorry computer glitch. Oldster like me on a fixed income.Have really enjoyed a couple and hope to post a review soon. Some of the scotches bought lately are a hedge against future increases and remain unopened. Thanx to all for not being grumpy with me re the "boring" statement. Had one of my bad days.

@Antihero"Price us mere mortals out" @Victor"less fun and more expensive"@bluenote"satisfied with what we consider good value whiskies"@Benancio"we all get to this stage at sometime". All these things hit home.

I feel less drawn to the site as of the last year or so as well, however I wouldn't call it "boring"

Many people have made great points, but I will say that for me, I see so many new bottlings and expressions coming out. In Irish, American, Japanese, and Scotch whisk(e)y. New expressions ever couple of months, but the internal Whiskey library on the site hasn't kept up to date at all. I come on the site all the time to look into a bottle before I buy it, but more and more, I am not finding what I'm looking for, so it is losing some of the draw for me. If they could keep the site more up to date on what is going on in the whisk(e)y world, it would be back into my most visited websites.

This is an excellent discussion topic. Why? Because I am sure there are plenty of marginal contributors such as myself that need a good reminder ("kick in the backside") that is community is built on sharing. That means both giving of ideas and experiences, as well as taking and/or using the knowledge and insight of others. You will find very few/no reviews from me; because my ability to discern specific flavors and smells is far below average (in my opinion). But that does not mean I have nothing to share. And I do need to be reminded of that, both by myself, and by discussion threads such as this one. And I have to second everything that everyone prior to me posting to this discussion has said. But I am still optimistic that content and contributions will improve. I suspect there is a flow or cycle to the timing of when members contribute. It is summer here in North America, and it has now become one of the hottest temp wise in a long time. Between the heat and satisfying family vacations and such, time has alittle more premium (shortage) attached to it. I, too, have purchased very little whisky over the past couple of months. But I am one of those who enjoys sipping year round, regardless of the weather or season of the year. It is comforting to me whether hot or cold. And while I enjoy both beer and wine, unlike whisky, both tend to put me to sleep rather quickly. So whisky is my year-round go-to drink of choice. And as I post (rambling thoughts), I am already dreaming about my next whisky purchase :-)

I'm certainly guilty as charged in terms of not visiting as often over the past month or so. I haven't even gotten to post about (or add to my cabinet) the haul I made off with at Nozinan's place a couple of weeks ago.

Partly it's because I've been insanely busy, and partly it's because in this heat I've been reaching for other kinds of drinks. Mostly water, to be honest, but also some beers from a local brewery (williamstreetbeer.com) that make a couple of really great flavours.

As for the site update, I am very much looking forward to it. The facelift is one thing, it'll be nice I'm sure, but I'm mostly wanting some missing features. For example, I'm keen to be able to edit posts to fix typos or add thoughts, as well as look at my post history.

Anyway, things are starting to slow down again for me (which is why just now I decided to stop by) so I'll likely start visiting and posting more often in the next week or so.

That's interesting! @cherylnifer I too have noticed that wine and beer give me a sleepy head after approximately 45 minutes from consumption (and that just 1 glass of wine!). On the other hand with whisky I have no problems. I tried to pin point the problem and the best I could find was that "blended wines" are the ones that give me the headache, as opposed to wines made from a single grape variety. Give it a try and let me know. Cheers

I barely come on here anymore. The people are still great but the site/ industry/ whisky experience has gone stale. On here the topics never really change (what are you drinking now? it has 7000+ responses which is a good thing and bad thing at the same time. Talking about NAS, etc.. The site updates are on the never never and it's not very iPad friendly.

The reason I come/came here is simple, the reviews and the people. Improve how to search reviews and improve how to contribute reviews. Or improve the forum so people can interact better. Or both.

However, for me, my whisky drinking habits have changed. This is probably the biggest change. As pointed out, prices have risen quite a bit, I feel a bit jaded with whisky. I've bought probably 20 different whiskies, drank over 100 different expressions this year. I just can't find the enthusiasm to write reviews any more. I know I should as this site has helped a lot in assisting me choose bottles over the years.

The whisky industry's attitude hasn't helped. It's gone more "corporate" and less personal/friendly like so many things. Profit is king, consumers get abused as demand is the excuse for so many of the things I dislike.

that said, I found a bottle of JW (20cl) for £25 today so whilst I'm not going to review it, I am going to drink it tonight. What a crazy bargain!

@tjb,

Good to see you on the board! I'm hoping you'll drop by to let us know how satisfying your JW bargain is.

Cheers!