Eamon McGrane, a technology journalist for the Sunday Tribune and many other media, has given the IWS a good shout out in the Sunday Tribune this week.
Linky here: http://www.tribune.ie/article/2010/feb/ ... rged-to-o/
Or you can read the copy below. Of course, these things always read best in print with a dram in hand, so feel free to go out and buy the tribune and read it as it was published too.
I hope he comes along to one of the tastings - I'll happily shout him a dram for his kind words.
Develop a taste for good whiskey, online and in real life
One month ago my Dad died. He would have been 83 in August, and despite his advanced years his death was sudden. During a long and sometimes difficult life, one of his favourite things to do was to pop into his local for a drink, a chat and to get away from the outside world for just a little while.
He was what I call a traditional Irish drinker. A bottle of stout in a half-pint glass, coupled with a whiskey and water. When bottles of stout became consigned to the St James's Gate rubbish bin he switched to draught but the one constant thing was his dram of whiskey. His fondness for uisce beatha instilled a love of the hard stuff in me.
Now, in reality I do not know much about whiskey and do not claim to be an expert, but all that could be changed by a web site I have just discovered – www.irishwhiskeysociety.com.
The site is the home of the Irish Whiskey Society which meets once a month, usually in the convivial setting of a Dublin pub, and has tastings.
How can I get in on the action, I hear you say? Well, the good news is that, on 25 February, the society is opening its doors to the public with a very special whiskey tasting. It wants the public to help identify Ireland's most instantly recognisable whiskey.
Non-members and new members are invited to join the society in tasting the best this country has to offer at Brooks Hotel in Dublin. Here you will be able to sample a wide range of Ireland's most popular whiskeys, while learning a little about what makes them so special.
According to the society there is a catch: you'll be tasting them 'blind'.
Admission is €15 for non-members, and prior booking at http://bookwhen.com/iws is recommended, as the places are expected to be filled quickly.
Sláinte!