Monday 19 January 2015

Fledglings


/ˈflɛdʒlɪŋ/
noun: fledgling; plural noun: fledglings; noun: fledgeling; plural noun: fledgelings

~ , a young bird that just has its feathers and is learning to fly.
~ , a person or organization that is immature, inexperienced, or underdeveloped.
~ , a spirit that has not been matured fully, and is on its way to becoming whisky.

All similar to what WhiskySpeller is now, officially blogging together one year. Today. January 19th 2015.

Although the blog has been running longer then a year and we both have been writing our notes and adventures separately before, the moment we decided to join forces and continue as WhiskySpeller was the start of a new journey for us.

In 2012 we had already planted the barley that we gave time to grow during 2012 and 2013. Also the malting and milling was done throughout the best part of the latter year and we have done a lot of mashing, fermenting and distilling during 2014, after we had made the decision to continue the journey as the couple we already were.

In these last few years we have experienced how warm and welcoming the whisky community can be, and diving more into the exploring of whisky (and other spirits) we discovered whole new layers of these amazing worlds. From visiting Scotland twice in 2014 - once experiencing the great Spirit of Speyside festival (fermenting) and the other while showing our friends around at the places we got to know and love so much (distilling), to visiting many festivals in our own country. Having good conversations with people who love whisky and meeting the ones that are working in the industry. Enjoying a good dram on a boat with whisky lovers while cruising the Frisian lakes, doing some great interviews with wonderful people, having a first go at hosting whisky tastings and our first printed publication in a Dutch club magazine (woohoo!) is now a fact. Too many things to completely summarise, and still so much more to come...

It feels like last few years were busy years - and they were, filled with moments of learning as much as we could digest. The wonderful people in the worldwide #whiskyfabric keep amazing us with showing us their the open arms, hearts and vast knowledge. Meeting these like-minded people and doing things together we all have a passion for, no matter what "level of experience" one has, everybody seems to be welcome if you show passion and just be yourself. It does not matter who you are or what you do or where you come from, just enjoy and have fun, that's the main goal. Together. Share. 

Our journey has just started and we are trying to spread our wings and catch some air underneath. The sky is blue and it all looks promising. We have already made some great plans for the year to come, and after a small silent season during the last few weeks, we enjoyed a good dram while recharging for our great journey to continue.

A journey we are constantly learning on, trying to catch some wind in the sumptuous and buzzing world of spirits. So much to see and learn about, so many things to do, so many people to meet. We keep being amazed how wonderful it all is, and looking back on the first "official" year as WhiskySpeller we can only smile.

Thank you.

Thank you all who have been following the writings on our travels and experiences here. It was a blast doing it, and we shall keep on going as we are. Watch this space for some more posts very soon.

If you would be interested in our tasting notes, you can find some of Ansgar here and some of Thomas can be found here. Both of us keep adding new notes on all kinds of spirits (but mainly whisky) on a regular basis, and off course you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

8 comments:

  1. Wishing you all the best for many more years of whisky blogging :) - Andy Watts JSD South Africa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Andy, we are planning to continue for a long time :-)

      Delete
  2. good luck! and good work so far ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Keep up the great work you two.

    ReplyDelete