Who is your daddy and what does he do?

@SquidgyAsh Kindergarten Cop all the way. I may be the only one young enough on this site to actually have watched that as a kid.

My name is Marcus. I live in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the French Quarter. I am a lifelong resident of the city. I started drinking whisky about 10 years ago, and began with bourbon, Jack Daniel's to be specific (I know, not actually a bourbon!). Progressed to some small batch whiskies, and began my Scotch Odyssey with Glenlivet and Macallan. My first taste of an Islay (Laphroaig 18) was utterly repulsive. Now, if I could inject the stuff directly into my veins i would. Before I got into whiskies, I enjoyed a good cigar with either a bit of bourbon or brandy or a B&B. I think cigars and whiskies are a natural pairing, and it is a truly cathartic experience to sit on the balcony while savoring a great whisky and puffing a great cigar. I have learned quite a great deal about various whiskies from this site, and have taken into account the reviews I have read when purchasing a new bottle. Here in New Orleans, I own a number of rental properties, have a property management business, and love to spend time riding my Harleys. A long ride with my girlfriend, followed by a good meal and a dram of Lagavulin - ahhhhhh.....the perfect day.

My Papy is long gone however I have a spiritual father that I came upon just recently, after more than sixty years of reading anything and everything and selling same for a few decades: I thought I had it all worked out. ....then along came Cormac McCarthy!!

My handle is my Chinese name. I earned it teaching English for five years in Taiwan after college. I met my wife there. I've been into quality whisky for about six years. I live in Seattle and pay the bills slinging code for the world's largest software company. We've been known to have secret tastings during business hours but if you ask me I'll deny it. I know what I like but I'm still a sucker for something I've never had so I'm always willing to buy something new, I'm no snob, I still buy mighty cheap bottles if I've never had them.

Great idea, @SquidgyAsh! And yes, that's Ah-nold in Kindergarten Cop! Myself, I'm a film distribution executive based in Toronto, Canada. I've been casually interested in whisky for some years, but only got really involved in the last year. I'm a single parent, father of a wonderful 7-year-old girl who is repulsed by the smell of what is sometimes in Daddy's glass! Almost everyone who knows me knows my three passions are film, my daughter and whisky. I'm fascinated by the process, the brands, the business, the marketing, the production, the variances between types and between distilleries, the culture, and of course the aromas and tastes of the products themselves. My favourites tend towards the peaty, briny ones - Islays, Islands, Campbeltowns. But I have a growing appreciation for Speysides that I hope to really explore when I attend the Speyside Whisky Festival in May. Joining Connosr has been wonderful, not only for the reviews, articles and e-meeting other enthusiasts but actually getting the opportunity to meet in person some of these wonderful people. All the whisky lovers I've met (and I mean ALL of them) are generous, social, happy people who are passionate and eloquent about what they love. I've just started this lifelong journey but I love it more and more every day.

Thanks @talexander!! I figured Connosr is a Whisky Social Network (totally stealing that from Victor btw) and that we should all get to know one another a little better. I figured whisky is something that brings us together and something that we all share a common passion for (I don't say interest because if you're researching whisky like most of us do, it's no longer just an interest, no matter what you may tell the wife:D)

Like you Talexander I am also totally passionate about films and television (hence the title of the discussion hahaha) Do you have any personal favorite ones? If so, Why?

@michaelschout My friend you are correct! In your honor I am having my next dram in your name! It, my friend, is a Sheep Dip Old Hebridean 1990 vintage and it is delicious! Thank you for making me try this in your name! A review shall be forthcoming, hopefully today! Like you my friend I'm a youngun. I was born in 1981 and I totally remember watching Kindergarten Cop at my grandmothers house! One of the best movies of my childhood growing up (Boys have penises, girls have vaginas!) Classic. Sadly it did not get me my first date, but a first slap instead :D So being a younger drinker what made you decide that whisky was the thing for you? What's your preference and why?!

@Marcus I LOVE The Simpsons reference! (Inject it into my veins!!) My friend I live in Perth, Australia. So since you've been converted by the Islay side do you prefer it over bourbons and small batch whiskies or do you still retain your love for the american side of things?

@Wodha My friend I'm originally from Seattle! Only been in the Land Down Under for a couple years now. How does your wife enjoy Seattle? I'm glad to see you lived in Taiwan. Did you ever get a chance to try Kavalan whisky? I've been wanting to try that for quite a while now and would love to know what you think if you've had it before.

@A'bunadhman I see you live in Queensland my friend. Systemdown and I are planning a get together sometime in the future when I next travel to the eastern states, would you be interested in joining us? Know any good whisky bars in Brisbine? I've got a good one to head to in Melbourne if you're interested!!

I'm hoping more people will join in the conversation. I love Connosr, but sometimes it feels so quiet!

My handle is my initials and my last name. A former teacher, I now work in public policy. I'm not sure what my favourite type of whisky is, it started about 2 years ago with lagavulin 16, which followed with more Islay drams. I then meandered to speyside and find myself currently interested in Campbeltown. Concurrent to that Victor introduced me to the world of American whiskey and I'm seeking out whatever I can get my hands on in Canada.

Abunadhman, I'm also a huge Cormac fan...I read Blood Merridean every few years

@SquidgyAsh - my personal favourite movie is the holiday classic It's A Wonderful Life - for all sorts of complicated and personal reasons!

@SquidgyAsh I never really made a conscious decision that whisky was my favourite spirit, it just evolved that way. I seldom found another spirit that really entrapped me quite like my first Bowmore did, and so naturally my favourite malts are Islays.

Like @cpstecroix said, @Victor also greatly helped open up the world of whisky for me.

My name is Paul. I live in Sherwood Park, Alberta (outskirts of Edmonton). My handle “SlowPuffs” comes from another hobby, pipes and tobacco and there are so many similar dynamics. Other passions include fantasy hockey (commissioner in one league) and listening to bluegrass music. I’m a retired minister. I have eclectic “tastes” and would describe my whisky experience as the “Happy Wanderer”, willing to try out most expressions. I decided to join Connosr for the reason much the same as SquidgyAsh ... “as way to learn more about whisky and hopefully make some whisky friends”. Like smoking a pipe with a nice tobacco, I find that sipping whisky is relaxing.
My taste buds and nosing are not all that they could be. If there is one element of whisky that is important to me, it is patience. Each bottle or expression seems like a possible new friend and it takes time to develop friendships.

Well OCeallaigh is my surname's Irish lagnguage origin. I was born in 1987 in Phoenix, Arizona to two classical musicians. I am now singing opera professionally living part time in Arizona and the rest of the time in Weimar, Germany, however most of the time I am traveling.

I started getting into Irish whiskey when I was 19 or 20 primarily because it made me feel cool. haha then I started experimenting with Bourbons and Single malts. It was old-school and I was all about that, but over time, I really began to love it. I started researching and trying as many as I could.

Now it really has become a passion for me. It is really hard for me to name a favourite. It depends on my mood and it changes all the time. I love Talisker, and every Highland Park I have ever tasted. I do love peaty, smoky whiskies. Particularly Caol Ila. Also I am starting to get really into Bruichladdich.

I don't have many friends that enjoy whisky like I do, that I can talk with about it. So Connosr gives me an outlet to learn about whisky and talk to people about it etc.

and @talexander … It's A Wonderful Life is in my top 5 favourite movies as well. Great film!

@Talexander It's a Wonderful Life is an awesome movie!! Not sure if I prefer Casablanca or It's a Wonderful life more for movies at that time. Both very good movies though!!

@Slowpuffs I personally don't care for cigars, but I've ALWAYS wanted to try a good pipe. However my wife is really not a fan of me smoking and I wound up giving it up when we started dating. Do you have any preferences on what whisky you would consider your favorite??

@Ceallaigh I LOVE opera!! I hav to be honest that it's cliche but one of my favorite pieces is Carmina Burana "O Fortuna". It sounds like your whisky journey was maybe a little similar to mine. It's got to be fun traveling around the world performing in different cities. If you ever come to Perth, Australia hit me up and we'll go out for a dram or two and my wife and I can show you the sights!

@cpstecroix So you got your start in Islays my friend? I've talked to quite a few people who did the same and it amazes me everytime! I think if my first whisky had been smokey and peaty (and as full of awesomeness) as most Islays I probably would have run screaming out of the door not able to handle what I was tasting. I definitely had to work my way up there hahaha.

As others have said already that's a great movie line and a really fun movie.

Hi all, my alias systemdown is something I've used for a long time and has to do with my youthful fondness for the alt/hard rock band System Of A Down (although they headlined the Soundwave festival down under recently and they were amazing both for their musicianship and for their political messages). These days I enjoy melodic death metal and other great metal genres as a natural progression I think.

I live in Brisbane, Queensland with partner and young son and work as a software engineer in the higher ed. sector where I get to work with lots of interesting people and research areas. Was always a Scotch drinker by choice and moved to single malts as my finances improved from being a poor student to comfortably employed. I just liked how single malts were drinkable neat and had such fullness and smoothness and so much diversity which I'm exploring to this day and still have a very long journey ahead of me.

I joined Connosr mainly for the virtual whisky cabinet and the reviews but am staying for the people, whisky "companionship" and knowledge sharing with like-minded folk. Like @OCeallaigh I don't have many people to talk whisky with as most are just casual fans and not totally nuts about the stuff like I am so this is a great outlet for whisky talk. Cheers.

@squidgyash I think that for me, my palate was generally suited to bolder flavours, which is why I started with the peated whiskies and moved on to Abunadh and other speysiders. As my palate matures I find myself more intrigued by some of the gentler, more delicate whiskies. For others, I think the journey is reversed, but it's all about one's own palate and where it starts from...the journey goes on from there. :-)

Great topic, SquidgyAsh. Thanks for starting it.

My handle is my initals and my last name (lacking in creativity, I know). I'm an Information Technology manager for an insurance company in Seattle.

Favorite scotch is difficult, but love smoky / peaty, so Islay and Islands. If I had to choose one - Lagavulin, especially the distillers edition. It's just perfect!

What surprised me about Scotch was how different each of them can be. Like a lot of people, I thought all scothch pretty much tasted the same, but my father-in-law gave me a Glenlivet 12 for Christmas one year. (I didn't like it.) The next year, he gave me a Macallan Cask Strength. That blew me away. I told him if this is Scotch, then I like Scotch! Shortly after that, I tried Laphroaig for the first time and it blew me away as well. I loved it, but couldn't believe how different it was from the GlenLivet and the Macallan.

I love the variety that is available with Scotch. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a light Speyside and other times I want "in-your-face" Islay. I can always find something that fits my mood at the time.

I honestly don't remember how I discovered Connosr, but when I did, I knew it was the place for me! I have met some great, like-minded people on here. I love reading the reviews and the discussions. There are some very smart, thoughtful and funny people on here. It's very entertaining and educational.

Thanks Jean-Luc and team for creating Connosr and Thanks to everyone for their contributions, reviews and comments!

Hi there. I own a chocolate shop on the north shore of Montreal and I also teach pastry in the city. My handle (good, I finaly figure out what it means) comes from my first love, Cognac. About a year and a half ago I visited the region of Cognac for, let's say a business trip and got the chance to stop by a distillery in Jarnac. Even if not the drinking kind of guy, I bot a bottle as a souvenir. Only a couple weeks later, after a nice meal with friends, I decided to open the bottle. Ho boy, now I wasn't aware of the ride I was in for, the discovery of fine spirits. A bit later, seeing all the fuss about whisky, I was intrigued and tried it out. Another revelation. As for Connosr, well I was out on the look for a good site on Cognac or whisky and just fell on it. I just love the fact that there is so much interaction. Different peoples with different tastes, opinions, points of view and experiences, ready to share the same passion for whisky. I'm still discovering, probably ever will, but I do like peated whisky a lot, possibly for it being so different.Even on days without my dose of whisky, I always get my dose of Connosr. Only time to share lacks, especialy since Easter is coming in a couple of weeks. For those curious, you can have a peek at our site at www.lecacaoyer.com/en/home . Thanks for the participation of everyone, I think it's what makes the succes of this site, along with how great it's been designed.

Slightly off the original topic here, but it is interesting that we almost all have the same reasons for joining this site - love of whisky, expanding our knowledge of various whiskies available, and general interaction with those who share similar tastes. I enjoy the fact that, in all the reviews I've read, that there is no judgement on anyone else's opinions. We all have different tastes, and it's good to get a different perspective sometimes. I try to read some of the reviews of a particular whisky before I purchase it, and in some instances, my personal reviews have been wildly different than those posted. In some instances, I go back and taste the whisky again to see why I missed the vanilla/sherry/plum, etc. I most definitely appreciate everyone's opinion, and look forward to continuing this journey into whisky with all on this site!

My ha

My handle is a combination of my first name and my nickname since childhood because I am a fan of the Star Wars sage (insofar that I have over 800 autographs and met more SW actors than you can name, check out jedimaster.be). But on topic, I have been tasting/drinking whisky for over a decade, but only started to become absolutly obsessive about it in 2009. In the meantime, I have visited Scotland twice (with a third visit already in the planning), visiting over 20 distilleries, and my cabinet grew like you wouldn't believe. I have only been keeping track of my tastings since 2009 and the count is up to 850. Truth be told, I do not recall why I suddenly decided whisky was to become my hobby number one. But when I got a bottle of Auchentoshan 12 Year Old from my co-workers for my birthday, that was the trigger for this passion (and also explains why I started collecting Auchentoshan in the first place).

I am a father of three (Sarah, Amber, Kobe) and live with my partner Sofie (not a whisky drinker, imagine that!) in Ghent, Belgium. I am a Team Leader at one of Belgium's leading banks' credit centers, meaning I have 16 people to boss around, support and train.

My dream is to one day bottle my very own Auchentoshan (I just need to convince them to sell me a cask, but don't you worry, I can be pretty persuasive).

I decided to join Connosr (pretty early one, actually), because of the openess and friendliness of its visitors/members. I felt at home immediately. No snobism (as you often see on other communities), no elitism, no BS, just plain old happy sharing of experiences in the grand adventure of whisky discovery.

Slàinte!

SquidgyAsh asked “Do you have any preferences on what whisky you would consider your favorite??

So far Ardbeg Ten and I’m looking forward to purchasing Uigeadail, perhaps next month.

@Marcus and @Markjedi1 Agreed my friends!! I've only encountered a very little bs and elitism here (just an individual or two and you get that anywhere), mainly it's good old fashioned fun with like minded people!! Sometimes their taste isn't ours, but it's always enthusiastic! As Cognacfan said even when I can't get a chance to have a dram of whisky I always make sure to get a dram of Connosr!

I'm 38 years old and l live in the beautiful city of Vienna in Austria with my wife and our two daughters. I earn my money as an architect with my own architecture firm; my flavourhunt began with a very strong interest in cooking - then about the age of 30 I became a passionate winedrinker and five years ago I discovered the wonderful world of whisky and other quality spirits like rum,tequila, cognac, armagnac but Whisky is my number one. My first real Whisky was a Signatory bottling of Imperial at cask strength and it blew me right away...so much complexity and different aromas...

Connosr is a great place to learn and talk to people with similar interest in Whisky because beside the fact that Whisky is a great journey of discovery it is always a pleasure to share drams and thoughts with friends and have a good time.

My dream is to visit the Feis Ile Festival on Islay and some of the distilleries in Scotland next year. Every time I pouryself a dram I have a smile on my face because it really makes me happy to experience the different characters of every Whisky and watch the growing of my inner whiskylandscape...what a great journey.

Hi, my handle Shrike is a nod to my love of books - it references both the Mortal Engines and Hyperion. I was raised by a single mum (along with two other brothers), so I dont have a patriarchal legacy, I am a man of my own creation... a man which happens to love scotch. I am a tertiary student in New Zealand earning a bachelors in IR, development studies and history. When asked what Im going to do with a weird degree like that I reply: Whatever I damn well want! - its actually something useful, unlike philosophy ;)

@Shrike I'm a huge book lover my friend, especially with a nice dram in my hand. Do you have any favorite authors? Seeing that you live in New Zealand I was wondering if you ever get over to Australia? I'm hoping that someday I'll be able to do a tasting with my aussie and kiwi counterparts over here. Of course I'd also love to do that with my american and canadian friends when I get back to the states. And my european friends if I ever get to go over to Europe.

@Maltster I gotta be honest my friend I'm SO jealous of you heading to Scotland. My wife and I are hoping that in a couple years we can head over to visit a bunch of distilleries. I know I'm going to need ALOT of money for all the bottles I'll purchase though haha.

@SquidgyAsh, I'm heading to the Speyside Whisky Festival in May this year - I'll be sure to post my experiences here!

@squidgyAsh, the money issue is a serious one...thank god the amount of alcoholic liquids is restricted to 10 liters and the wife is going to come with me...

@talexander now I'm extremely jealous of you!! Speyside is my current favorite single malt and my wife's all time favorite. Definitely let us know how it goes!!

@Maltster hahaha I know what you mean my friend. I'm not sure how much my duty free allotment will be, but I know that it won't be enough. Like you said thank god the wife is coming along. As excited as she'll be she won't let me go overboard . . .sadly. . .sorta hahahaha

It's so nice to hear about you all, thanks for the opportunity @SquidgyAsh.

My handle and my name are one and the same. It's a blessing to go from an eleven-letter maiden name to a short and sweet first & last which fits on a license plate, so I use it often. I currently live in Seattle, though I'm still quite new here. I was born in Poland, and spent the majority of my life in various parts of California (Bay Area, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles), spending my summers abroad. Between leaving California and moving to the Pacific Northwest, my husband and I traveled around the world for a year.

I work for an all-digital design agency as an art director. I've been in advertising since 2004, and the bulk of my previous experience was for fashion brands. My current job is pretty fabulous. I'm learning a great deal, part of a wonderful team, and we have a fully stocked whisky cabinet on-site.

My favorite types of whisk(e)y are usually fairly dramatic and turbulent. I like challenging drams that resist any fickle inattentiveness. And curiously, that's where I really started to love the spirit, rather than easing in. I've noticed now that I'm further along in my journey, I can appreciate even the calmer offerings of, say lowland malts. It's wonderful how the experience of whisky is constantly evolving.

I kept on coming across Connosr when doing reading about this or that online, and I liked reading the reviews. I felt for some time that I didn't have much to contribute myself, but I'm so glad that I finally joined. The community is much more than I hope for. I've expanding my knowledge, found like-palate-ed friends and been able to share some interesting conversations. I even found a few local connosr's :).

A Big Hello from James,

I've recently re-discovered whisky, I tried a bottle of my fathers when I was alot younger and hated the stuff it was like drinking flammable oil.

I picked up some Tullamore Dew Whiskey from the store to give it a try and was pleasantly suprised by how much I liked it. Since then I've been surfing the web to become more knowledgable on the subject. Having an Irish and Scottish background(I'd be double useless at an old firm game ;0) I decided to try some of the famed Scottish Single Malt, I follow ralfy.com and saw that Laphroaig seemed the most identifying Scotch Whisky. I gave it a go and it is now by quite some distance my favourite. I'm still exploring and enjoying all the recommendations I get Glenfarclas being one of the great ones. I'm also looking into American Corn Whiskey and the Mexican Mezcal spirits. But my taste is very much the Islay Big Peat, looking forward to trying the Isle of Skye equivalent in Talisker soon.

As for my job take the word Kindergarten out and that pretty much sums it up, wish I was a animal trainer though! I live in Kent in England and work in London and would like a immediate transfer to Port Charlotte ;)

I decided to join connosr as people here really know their whisky, (they also appear to have more interesting job titles and living locations) Connosr is the best place to make an informed decision on a whisky as its the opinions of fans and not a company trying to sell you the goods.

My handle - it means nothing! sorry just put two words together, my picture well I'm a ghostbusters fan who isnt eh

I'm still looking for a whisky club, so any recommendations please let me know malt mates :) There's still plenty more lively water out there to be sampled

@SlowPuffs Uigeadail could be my favorite whisky! I like to change my mind, so I'll say it's in the top 3 — I'm looking forward to hearing what you think. Compared to the 10 I find it to be much more "filthy," like falling into a lake (should I say loch?) mouth-open. I find the 10 bright and almost fresh in comparison.