Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From the perspective of whisky enthusiasts, whisky in 2022 seems pretty healthy.
Certainly, rising prices point at a market which believes itself to be in rude health. They remain a challenge for those of us hoping to open, enjoy and share and yet, we work together as a community to fathom where the good stuff is. I think this works pretty well.
Within YouTube and its community of viewers, commenters, sharers and creators, we rely on each other heavily. We realise that doing things as a collective is a far more efficient way of discovering where value and quality lie and, just maybe, the next new and delicious experience. Through the myriad channels of reviewers and content creators it seems that not many of the important bottles fall through the cracks; someone, somewhere usually picks up anything of interest. A win here is a good and enjoyable bottle to share with their respective communities or audience. A bonus is when it's an original or new discovery. When we miss things though, guess what - viewers don’t.
It's difficult for me to speak for other platforms outside of YouTube, but I feel like it's similar in many ways. Because, it matters not if it's web, blogs, podcasts or what-have-you, the thing that unites is pretty compelling when you think about it. We're all after the same thing; that good stuff. This is an extremely subjective thing of course, but with depth and variety comes that all important consensus.
I think there's more though; we are independents. We are like-minded enthusiasts; we are chasers of flavour. Whisky has taught us it's best to remain promiscuous, fickle, flighty and extremely curious. We don't only browse websites and news feeds for inspiration; we listen to our communities and we listen to each other. A lot.
Some see a danger there of an echo-chamber dynamic or everyone chasing the same thing at the same time. Well, I think if that happens it's a product of that consensus - that curiosity and drive to find the next glass of delicious, rather than following a lead. It comes not from copying each other, but from trusting each other.
That, combined with a scene that's remarkably independent, is a very valuable thing.
I've hoped that this topic would be a good one to invite a fellow channel to ponder with me. A channel that I believe is bringing super-thoughtful and high-quality opinion, that is heavily contextualised and justified in its delivery. I'm talking about Geoff from Gwhisky. This is a channel and a voice which I have come to trust. And, it seems, agreement is not a condition of that trust, as I hope we'll cover too.
If this seems a little self-indulgent, remember I'm sharing it on the vPub because I believe that you, too, are very much part of this dynamic of trust. Time and again, I discover things borne of community sharing. It isn't a master-slave relationship, it's peer-to-peer. I hope that by spending a little time thinking about it, we can help it endure and grow.
Simple question though: When it comes to finding good whiskies - have you benefited from these creators and the communities that grow around them?
We hope to welcome you there!
From the perspective of whisky enthusiasts, whisky in 2022 seems pretty healthy.
Certainly, rising prices point at a market which believes itself to be in rude health. They remain a challenge for those of us hoping to open, enjoy and share and yet, we work together as a community to fathom where the good stuff is. I think this works pretty well.
Within YouTube and its community of viewers, commenters, sharers and creators, we rely on each other heavily. We realise that doing things as a collective is a far more efficient way of discovering where value and quality lie and, just maybe, the next new and delicious experience. Through the myriad channels of reviewers and content creators it seems that not many of the important bottles fall through the cracks; someone, somewhere usually picks up anything of interest. A win here is a good and enjoyable bottle to share with their respective communities or audience. A bonus is when it's an original or new discovery. When we miss things though, guess what - viewers don’t.
It's difficult for me to speak for other platforms outside of YouTube, but I feel like it's similar in many ways. Because, it matters not if it's web, blogs, podcasts or what-have-you, the thing that unites is pretty compelling when you think about it. We're all after the same thing; that good stuff. This is an extremely subjective thing of course, but with depth and variety comes that all important consensus.
I think there's more though; we are independents. We are like-minded enthusiasts; we are chasers of flavour. Whisky has taught us it's best to remain promiscuous, fickle, flighty and extremely curious. We don't only browse websites and news feeds for inspiration; we listen to our communities and we listen to each other. A lot.
Some see a danger there of an echo-chamber dynamic or everyone chasing the same thing at the same time. Well, I think if that happens it's a product of that consensus - that curiosity and drive to find the next glass of delicious, rather than following a lead. It comes not from copying each other, but from trusting each other.
That, combined with a scene that's remarkably independent, is a very valuable thing.
I've hoped that this topic would be a good one to invite a fellow channel to ponder with me. A channel that I believe is bringing super-thoughtful and high-quality opinion, that is heavily contextualised and justified in its delivery. I'm talking about Geoff from Gwhisky. This is a channel and a voice which I have come to trust. And, it seems, agreement is not a condition of that trust, as I hope we'll cover too.
If this seems a little self-indulgent, remember I'm sharing it on the vPub because I believe that you, too, are very much part of this dynamic of trust. Time and again, I discover things borne of community sharing. It isn't a master-slave relationship, it's peer-to-peer. I hope that by spending a little time thinking about it, we can help it endure and grow.
Simple question though: When it comes to finding good whiskies - have you benefited from these creators and the communities that grow around them?
We hope to welcome you there!
