I LOVE getting to spend so much of my time immersed in the whisky world. There is a term I was introduced to on Twitter and absolutely love, which is #whiskyfabric. It embodies in its simplest form the group of people who interact with each other on Twitter, Instagram and the rest of the internet around the topic of love of whisky. It becomes more meaningful upon further reflection. A piece of fabric is either woven or knitted with threads. Each thread is small and may be easy to miss on its own. But each thread together makes something beautiful and useful and so as the metaphor for our community, it is really brilliant. The #whiskyfabric is not only the writers of tweets and other internet content, but also the receivers of that content, the distillers, the ambassadors, the photographers and all the lovers of whisky who participate together on the internet around our love of whisky. We are truly unlimited beings and every day someone expresses their love of whisky in their own unique way. Many of us express this love of whisky by posting tweets, blogs, and photographs, and then interacting with our fellow #whiskyfabric mates around these posts. Our fabric grows rich and varied and intricate.
As an observer of life and deep thinker, I have noticed that there is an almost unlimited amount of material to read, understand, and interact with in the #whiskyfabric. Some days I resolve that I will read everyone’s blog posts and comment on them all! Ok, well that is too much to commit to, but I will certainly read all the tweets. No wait, that is still too much. I mean, with two whisky magazines coming at me in regular succession, blogs arriving in my email everyday and tweets and instagrams to the tune of 100’s a day, how can I possibly keep up. “Wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to be contributing, as well? Where is your blog post, Catherine? Well, where is it? What do you mean you went on a family vacation for 18 days that set your life back a bit when you came home? What do you mean you have a Scotch Lovers group to run, plus a life outside of Whisky? Wait, you started posting on Instagram, are you nuts? You want to start teaching people about whisky? Don’t you have enough to do already? Why do you want to write a blog connected to your whisky experience anyways? Aren’t there enough whisky blogs already?” These are all valid comments and observations, inner self.
I have thought deeply about this and have remembered that I started this blog because I enjoyed doing it and that has to be what I come back to. I want to break out of my procrastination of posting on my blog and break a sort of thrall not posting had put me in. I often get frozen by not wanting to do something unless I can do it perfectly. Then that combines with judgement about all the ways I have been doing it wrong and how can I possibly go back and fix all those wrong things. The antidote to all of this is to write a blog entry, post a tweet or instagram because it brings me joy. Though I hope it will also bring joy to you, dear readers, I will succeed only if I am true to my own joy first!
Here is a brief summary of the last 8 months of my whisky life since I went to Whiskies of the World and wrote my last blog post.
The end of 2015 saw some whisky related events with the Austin Scotch lovers, but as is usual for this time of year, people focus on family and the Holidays. As I was able to take an amazing cruise through the Panama Canal for my Christmas vacation in 2015, I was definitely thinking of other things besides whisky. But in October we did have an outstanding Dalmore and Jura event with ambassador Joshua Scott. October also saw our second Whiskey Round Up at 10 Oak Bourbon House and December brought the annual Scotch Whisky Fest at Opal Divine’s.
I was hoping to find some treasures of travel retail at the ports of call on my cruise, but it turned out that the Cayman Islands were really the only option for that. I was able to find some lovely Christmas gifts both for others and for me, though!
January not only has whisky tastings under the guise of Robert Burns “suppers” but I had my own Burns Supper at my house. I will write about that in a separate post. When I got back home after my trip, I really wanted to rev up the group by creating and finding as many events as possible. We have existed as a group long enough now to start to have Scotch socials at some of the homes of members, which was actually kicked off in November when Julian offered to host a social at his home. This broke the ice and we have had at least one Scotch social a month in 2016, often at folks homes and sometimes at public places. The main idea is for people to bring Scotch to share and get together to drink each other’s Scotch and have a chance to socialize in a very informal setting. A new member of the group, Robin, generously offered to host a social in February and another member, Ato, offered the store he manages, League of Rebels, as a place to meet up for a social, as well as hosting 4 Scotch Lounges during South by Southwest! We continue to meet up for casual happy hours at Freedmen’s, Opal Divine’s, Parkside, and Olive & June. The end of April brought the semi-anuual 10 Oak Whiskey Round Up and then Derby Day brought the annual North American Whisky Fest at Opal Divine’s complete with a hat contest for which I won one of the prizes! The third Thursday in May is World Whisky Day. We celebrated as a group for the first time this year and I hosted the party at my house! That will also be another blog post.
So, it brings me great joy to be back writing this blog and continuing to be part of the #whiskyfabric. Though it is not the only fabric I contribute some thread and pattern to, it is one I cherish deeply and feel so grateful to be a part of. Thank-you for joining me here and please continue to be an active part of the #whiskyfabric in the ways it brings you the most joy.
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @AustinTXScotch.
(Due to spamming problems, I have had to shut off my comments. Please connect with me on Twitter, Meet Up and through the contact page if you would like to speak with me.)