<strong>The</strong> Malt Guild tHE MALt guILD is loosely based on Phillip Hills’ Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Where Hills’ goal was to get scotch whisky into the hands of Scots, our goal is to provide “Information.” For all intents and purposes, the Malt guild is a whiskey club. We gather privately outside of the bustling confines of a bar or club at a private room at a golf course. When the guild meets we have an agenda and it is whiskey. typically we have three to study and each person at the study table is given worksheets and nosing glasses with watch glass covers, each containing one ounce of the whiskeys we are to study. New members are often disappointed, for we are not a drinking club. We don’t order a round and pretend we know what we are doing, talking jovially with one another, socializing, while trying to discern the nuances of the whiskey in our glass. No, this is a study table. We take notes, progressively working through the prepared worksheet. <strong>The</strong>re are three stages to this progression. Stage One: We begin by creating a profile for the whiskey with name, place of distillation, age and mash bill. We document alcohol content of the still if known, otherwise at bottle strength along with whatever other information we can glean. This begins the understanding process. We then begin discussing color, legs and beads—why some scotch whiskys are pale, why some bourbons are dark, how a two year-old whiskey can somehow be darker than six year-old. Open discussion and fact finding is what this stage is all about. Stage Two: We nose the whiskey. Nothing is more critical to developing one’s pallet than nosing. Without proper nosing it is so easy to miss an entire spectrum of whiskey. This is what kills me while I am at work in the liquor store that I have occupied for the last twelve years. When I talk to twenty somethings as they look for a whiskey, I like to ask them about what they like about the whiskey they’re looking at, what about the flavors in that whiskey. Nosing, I ask, have you ever nosed your whiskey before you sip it. Nosing? <strong>The</strong>y reply, what is that? And then quickly retort that they’re not sipping; they’re taking shots. <strong>The</strong> only thing I can do at this point is just walk away. 28 w w w . d i s t i l l i n g . c o m By Robert Pate T H E . M A LT . G U I L D Stage Three: Now, after fifteen to twenty minutes of looking, studying, and nosing we finally get to tasting. During the whole process we are working through the worksheets that have been created to focus our attention to the details of the whiskey we are exploring. <strong>The</strong> whole process is to get personal with the whiskey to build a taxonomy of taste for the whiskey to match each individual palate. This is not something that can be accomplished during a three-hour meeting. This is done with practice. A lot of practice. Call it a lifetime of malt adventure. NOW, AFtER tHREE YEARS, the Malt guild has now begun inviting distillers and brand representative to the meetings. Through video conferencing we have invited such people as troy Karnes from High West <strong>Distilling</strong> and Lynn Bauer from Clear Creek <strong>Distilling</strong> to be a part of our meetings. troy spoke to us from his home is Washington D.C. and Lynn from the distillery in Portland, Oregon. Discovering whiskey It is heartbreaking and deeply frustrating to me that we are losing so many young people to the notion that whiskey is for drinking and not for discovering. Drinking something just to get drunk, I abhor this thought. This is not what the Malt guild is about and first time attendees when realizing this usually make a choice. Many times we do not see these folks back to a second meeting. I am on an evangelistic mission to convince people especially the young twenty something’s, before they get to lost in the haze of liquor choices, that discovering is a better approach to drinking. Discovering means you take your time with the whiskey, you try to understand it. Explaining to whiskey drinkers that what they have is special, it is something that is very complex, it is something that has taken years to produce. Just down a shot which takes a mere second is doing the whiskey a grave disservice Developing the live link to the distilleries is a way to provide the distilleries a direct marketing tool for their product without having to put in the time and travel expenses. We can now go through the worksheet side by side with the distiller or brand manager for the product we are sampling. Since our Malt guild members are avowed whiskey enthusiasts, they are also thought leaders who become miniambassadors for the whiskeys they understand and love. It’s a win-win for everyone. It is a win for the distillery because the brand promotion has no inherent costs beyond the laptop computer already owned, plus, we have purchased the whiskey as well, so there is a sale involved which is another bonus. Being able to purchase the whiskey locally is essential. It’s a win for us as consumers because we are able to try something with you, the distiller, and learn all the fascinating ideas, processes, and thoughts that went into developing that whiskey. Instant promotion for forty-five minutes of time. <strong>The</strong> Malt guild is expanding. We have four groups in Indiana (Bloomington, Indianapolis, Columbus, and New Albany), plus one in Washington, D.C. and another starting up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Now, should Lynn or troy wish to talk about a new whiskey they have coming out they have the access to linked sessions with people in various parts of the country who are interested in what they have to say. <strong>The</strong> Malt guild is set up to be a conduit of information. It is a place to share ideas, thoughts, and enthusiasm for something this is very unique: whiskey. It has taken some time to develop the model. It is set to take off. I joke with my whiskey friends that we are the “Red Hatters” of whiskey. We each have our own little clubs of people independent but yet all together sharing information and experiences. Our five-year goal is to set up a series of guild Halls. <strong>The</strong>se would be places where guild members could assemble and be unimpeded in their quest to find really good whiskies at a reasonable cost. If you are a malt distiller who would like to participate in a Malt guild meeting, or are interested in establishing an affiliate Malt guild, please contact the author by e-mail: Robert Pate, scotch@bluemarble.net.
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