Good morning,
Times flies and about a month ago the blog celebrated its 10th anniversary, quite an achievement , in my opinion, at least.
I started blogging (in English, I’ve written about whisky in a sister culinary blog a year or so before) on the 28th of October 2009. The whisky scene was very different then, with only as few whisky Blogs our there, most of which have not survived (but some did, and are doing very good).
Back then Whisky prices were more affordable, but the Israeli whisky scene was very small, with a draconian import tax of 90% on whisky, I was struggling to find whiskies locally and had to import almost everything from the EU / UK.
Gladly the situation locally has changed immensly for the better with reduction of import taxes and I can happily say that most Scotch distilleries are imported to Israel now, even if only a fraction of their portfolio, prices are usually decent.
Back then it was harder to start a blog, but with the help of many worldwide whisky friends I was able to taste and experience a vast selection of whiskies over the years.
I’ve met amazing people on my way, some locally who are good friends, and some internationally. Some I’ve met face to face when they visited Israel or on some of my whisky trips abroad, and some are still virtual friends.
Good whisky (or whisky at all) has becomes quite expensive over the last decade with the soaring popularity of whisky worldwide and mostly in the east. I see many whisky drinkers looking into Malternatives such as Rum ,Armagnac etc. While I try to be on the lookout for good Rums and publish some notes, I have not abandoned whisky, and It is until now my first and most important Love.
Over the span of 10 years I’ve managed to post more than 1,500 posts, some are longer and some are merely tasting notes. I have tasted 1000’s of whiskies , and consider myself very lucky and privileged.
Whisky has become not just a blogging topic for me, but a way of life, as I strive to educate more people about whisky, locally and internationaly through the blog, and also though whisky initiative I have initiated locally with some good friends (tasting events, etc).
It took my a few years of whisky drinking to gather enough courage and to think I have something worthwhile to share with the world whisky wise. In recent years we’ve seen a wave of self proclaimed ‘whisky experts’ who have very little experience and very little whisky mileage using social media (instagram for instance), writing whisky fluff at best, or plain silly opinions based on zero knowledge and experience. I do believe people are wise enough to decide what to read and to seperate fluff from real whisky writing.
I wish the blog 10 more years of great whisky, good Rum and interesting distillates, and would like to thank all my whisky friends over the world for reading, helping and reaching out.
I will raise a dram later today in your honor.
Thank you all.
Gal , Whisky Israel
Mazal tov!