What have you done for me lately..

Its funny how as a blogger you can sit in front of a computer screen with a head full of ideas and the minute you go to put it to text your head goes completely blank !! (I know my head is permanently blank)  but its a fact, id call it writers block but I don’t consider myself a writer, I am more a jotter, my thoughts are scrambled more than eggs on a plate..

Any way I am sat at the computer with a head full of ideas and wham.. Nothing..

A glass of whisky in hand which is unusual for me.. honestly.. music playing and a blank expression upon my face, I need inspiration..

Then it just comes to me as I listen to, yes you guessed it, or maybe you didn’t  ” What have you done today”  by M people but this gave me the thought of what has whisky done for me and by that I mean where does the inspiration come from, what have I got from whisky and why ?

 

Over the many years I have been drinking whisky I have certainly evolved as a person, whisky was once a liquid to get drunk on, it was a shot after all, it followed a bottle of lager, one after another until the head hits the floor and everything is spinning.. Don’t judge me I was young back then..

Things progressed into me drinking whisky without the lager.. the head still hitting the floor and everything still spinning.. I had not learned a thing and you wonder why my head is empty..

OK.. I started to understand whisky was more than a slamming drink, it actually had flavour, substance and I slowed down on the rate of drinking.. well on most occasions.. A festival in Newcastle, a couch and two friendly police officers but that’s another story and no I wasn’t in any trouble just far far too drunk and probably close to actually getting alcohol poisoning, so yes I have been to the dark side and back..

Anyway.. whisky then taught me its positive side.. The social aspect and how to enjoy what it can offer and to look for positives..

I have said it before that whisky is far more than a drink, it is a journey, a bloody long journey if you let it be, for some its a rather short dull journey because they don’t open up their mind to what they have and I am not just talking about what you are drinking !! The drink is secondary, its what’s around you that counts, the people, the interaction the banter, the arguments and disagreements and there’s plenty of that when it comes to talking about whisky, just ask any one who interacts with me on social media..

Whisky has given me an opportunity to get out and talk to people, talk about a passion I have for drink.. That sounds wrong doesn’t it.. But it is a fact, and without whisky I would not have met some of the people I have, people that don’t always judge you for what you are but rather judge you on the person they see.. I meet people at festivals that remember me, smile as they approach and greet me like an old friend and in a world where hardship is only around the corner for most of us that’s is something special and worth looking forward to !!

People from different walks of life, different continents, different beliefs.. There is no racism, no hatred no wars and no politics in whisky, I did want to put no judgement but I know id be wrong there! You are who you are and ok the whisky community is like every other walk of life, there is bitching behind the scenes, whispers that are not always true, jealousy, and backstabbing but it is still a great community to be involved within..

People do honestly seem welcoming, less judgemental and generous, but its the smiles and eagerness to listen and learn that still pulls me in, the ability to feel at home and forget all the crap life throws at us.

I have spoken to people who have so much passion about the industry and the product that it makes you want to learn more, there is in fact a drive to learn more and when you listen to some of the people telling you that you never stop learning its so true, it is an industry that although being hundreds of years old it is still young and developing, new technology, new ideas and new concepts that might drag the industry into a new era..

So whisky has given me a lifestyle, it has given me friends, it has given me memories, it has given me an understanding, it has given me smiles, hugs, handshakes, gratitude, made me humble but do you know the most important thing its given me ?

It has given me an opportunity to pass on my passion to everyone who wants to listen and learn, to share a dram with friends new and old, strangers and anyone else who is on a journey and for that I will always be grateful..

So many smiles…. So much whisky….

Slainte..