Jumping the shark - crowd-sourced reviews

@cricklewood - That's a great link and point you bring up - I see their vlogs often in my YT feed and have watched a few but they've always struck me as being gifted in the art of publicity and self-marketing (and hence making cash - the link clears up the grey areas I had in wondering how they were making $$$ out of the whole thing other than the YT vlogs) but less gifted in their ability to deliver a whisky review (for my tastes, anyhoo - many clearly like them)

Well, as my Nan used to say, 'if you can't say anything nice . . .'

So at risk of getting too sour I'll just say if someone's prepared to fork out $12,000 dollars for a meaningless piece of paper then more fool them. It's an odd world at times. My Nan had another saying 'A fool and his money are soon parted.'

They have a mean as hell bar there though

I watched Daniel and Rex’s videos for awhile and I found them entertaining albeit not very informative. And then I got bored and stopped watching.....not interested in a piece of paper.

@OdysseusUnbound Some pieces of paper are more interesting than others...

@RianC well put, and as I said I wasn't posting this to go into trashing them or what they do, I mean clearly some folks enjoy their act (I mean Daniel pretty much serves as the straight man part of the act) but more the kind of pernicious effect that their whole whisky marketing school has because while @OdysseusUnbound and probably most of us here aren't interested in their piece of paper, some people clearly think that this thing has gravitas.

I converse regularly with a few people who have drunk the kool-aid and I wouldn't call them outright fools but it has me wondering. There's another course that a certified brand ambassador training that while less kooky than this wizard academy had me scratching my head as well.

I guess I am not making a point but rather just wondering what y'all think?

@Nozinan True: my B.Arts, my B.Ed., and my OCT Certificate are useful to my continued gainful employment. A Whisky Sommelier, Level Eleventy Billion, not so much.

@cricklewood interesting article. I've seen a few of Daniel and Rex's videos and found them mildly entertaining. But would seriously question their credentials to be training others about whisky. I've noticed numerous mistakes in their videos.

I'm sure in all honesty a lot of posters on here know as much if not more than them about whisky.

The whole thing is like novices teaching appentices.

@Wierdo the blind leading the bling...or fools I guess.

@Wierdo the blind leading the blind...or fleecing the blind I suppose.

If you've ever seen some of the behind the scene's looks at how they churn out their videos you wouldn't be surprised by the mistakes and meandering involved, they film a bunch in succession and so they aren't exactly sharp by the time they've done 2 or 3.

Ralfy does it gain.

In the past he's recommended self examination for prostate cancer, and in his earliest videos completely lost his credibility on a rant about identifying if you have alcohol use disorder.

In this video he implies that people are (inappropriately) making a big deal about COVID, and blames seniors getting their flu shots for his catching a cold...

But what's more, he shows us three whiskies and implies that if you don't have them in your cabinet this year, you don't understand good whisky.

Well, I guess I don't understand good whisky. I'll just have to dump out my Laphroiag 10 CS (because I don't have the standard 10), Lagavulin 12 CS, Wiser's 23 CS, Amruts, Caol Ila cask strengths, Benromach 10/100, and all those others, as I guess they are substandard.. .

@Nozinan I like most of Ralfy’s whisky reviews, but he’s not my “go-to” guy for health advice, especially when there are brilliant (and qualified) minds so much closer to home (Dr Yoni Freedhoff comes to mind). Ralfy also lost me on his “pro-organic/anti-GMO” tirades.

I won't say that I'd take ralfys word for it (I wouldn't) but i will however confess that I find his eccentricities and outspokenness quite enjoyable in this time of infinite anxiety over words and statements. He's not one for mincing his words.

Old Ralfy boy has cultivated a faux anti establishment image. There's nothing he likes better than a good conspiracy. Nonetheless, I still like hear what he has to say about whisky and to see what mark he gives the whiskies he reviews.

Well, I think if any of you read some of my other posts, you will notice I (like many others) might have enjoyed Ralfy early on. He got me hooked on the laddie Ten and the 12yo Bunnahbhain. What turned me off are as follows:

When he repeats the "Just an opinion." Give me a break, we know it is your opinion, you don't have to tell us, especially after watching a few videos. We get it.

And then there is his mission of ABV, Non-Chill Filtration and Natural Color, what I have identified as a mantra. I must admit, I was on that mantra kick for a while. Then I noticed I was becoming a Ralfy mantra snob. Hey, I get it, empower consumers is a good thing, and I am all for that; however, repeating it over and over again (in one video), and getting overly passionate about it is taking a bit too far, for my youtube comfort zone. In other words, I find his mantra developed an edge of being a rant and even and almost cult-like, so I turned to watching cat and Asian small clawed videos.

I just think he has becoming a bit bigger than the whisk(e)y he reviews, and that is a turn off. Actually, I stopped subscribing to whisk(e)y review channels because most of these people are moving away from "hey, let's share a hobby we all enjoy but cannot meet" to "let's talk about whisk(e)y and oh yeah, buy stuff and send us money on patreon." I understand that some people want to make money from this, but don't be surprised if this turns people off, or at least a little bit off.

So it is either cult-of-personality or going corporate. HA. Just kidding. Can't we call get along and just enjoy a dram and talk about why we like or dislike. That's why I prefer the forum over youtube channels.

By the way, you can send me money for Glenlivet 16yo Nadurra addiction any time, or better still, just send the whisky.

@ajjarrett - " ... most of these people are moving away from "hey, let's share a hobby we all enjoy but cannot meet" to "let's talk about whisk(e)y and oh yeah, buy stuff and send us money on patreon."...."

This is very much where I'm at. I always liked a Canadian called Jason Debly who just pours a dram, switches on the camera and gives his thoughts on what are mostly accessible whiskys - there was an American who did similar with bourbon and ryes on his pool table. I don't mind, and am often entertained, by some of the other YT's eccentricities, shall we say, but when all the Patreon stuff started a few years back it all felt a bit 'walking with begging bowl' whilst knocking back old Broras in front of one's own enviable stash. Hmmm.

Such is life and such is YT these days, and I honestly don't begrudge them any £ or $ they make but, I don't know, some of the fun gets taken out of it. In ralfy's defence, he could milk the teet dry should he choose to but, for the most part, is low key about it and retains his authenticity.

Just an opinion, malt mates

@BlueNote - aren't all Scots anti-establishment?

@RianC

I had to get out my over-powered magnifying glass to read that last comment. And since it wasn't on the label, and you know the label is the 'contract' we cannot believe you.

@RianC

Only when they are originally from Australia and wear blue paint on their face. "Freeeedom, Fries!"

@ajjarrett - Ahh I see your referencing the historically accurate powerhouse that was Braveheart ... Is it bad that I was quite happy with the final outcome in that film?! What a load of ...

In fact, Mr Gibson has made quite a career on the back of the treacherous and effete English establishment. The Patriot is another gem.

@RianC

Never saw The Patriot, and I suspect I never will. However, I did see Patriot Games. haha.

Now, getting back to the topic of the thread. I am not sure how others feel about this, but I feel as if Youtube is just getting saturated with people reviewing whisky. Okay, that's not such a bad thing because these individuals have a passion for it and want to share it with others. I get that. But how many of them need to tell us about distilleries that got moth-balled, or was purchased by Diageo, or is owned by a family, or has the tallest, the squatest and shiniest stills?

Some of these guys come across as if they have a need to sound/appear to be knowledgeable about something that they 'discovered' and have to 'share' with the rest of us, when in fact they are just repeating what they heard on Ralfy. HA!

Sometimes I just advance the video, or stop watching altogether thinking to myself, "I am not here for whisk(e)y 101, just talk about the 'juice' and be done with it. If they want to go beyond the juice inside the glass, a little personal story in their whisk(e)y experiences works for me.

*Click, back to the otter videos.

@RianC Well, if you like to watch racist, antisemitic actors ply their trade, MG is a good example...

@Nozinan - not particularly, but I take your point

@ajjarrett - Saturated is a good word for the YT whisky community. Nothing makes me squirm more than ralfy replicas but I guess imitation is the highest form of flattery, or something like that?

@RianC

Saturation is good for YT, but to me it is almost like drowning my whisk(e)y with a bit too much water.

@Nozinan @RianC I'm not sure which is less historically accurate: Braveheart or The Patriot. Braveheart tends to bother me more since there are so many terrific actors in it. And as far as I know, Brendan Gleeson, David O'Hara, Sophie Marceau, Angus Macfadyen, and Patrick McGoohan aren't rabid anti-semites and racists.

@OdysseusUnbound The Prisoner was a very interesting show. It's what I remember Patrick McGoohan for most. I've seen him in a couple of other things but because it left such an impression I can't remember the others...

@Nozinan "I am not a Number, I am a Free Man!"

"By hook or by crook, we will."

@ajjarrett

www.youtube.com/watch

@Nozinan

One of my top three TV series introductions!

Gotta love any series where rover who can kill, stun, and capture someone trying to escape was inspired by a weather balloon.

And have a last episode where Leo McKern goes back to being Rumpole of the Bailey. "Oh, she who must be obeyed." And for Trump it would be, "Xi who must be obeyed." HA!

@OdysseusUnbound @Nozinan - I fear my sarcasm chip may not have been fully switched on for my previous Gibson post

@ajjarrett I’m with you, just skip to the tasting notes and the mark.

@RianC Rarely, if ever, did history and Hollywood have anything in common.