Davin De Kergommeaux's Chat with WhistlePig's Raj Bhakta

[squire]

My son though had to put up with the nickname 'Squirling' as he was dubbed by one of my waggish friends.

[smokinjoe]

Wow, you accuse WA of trading editorial content for ad buys, John calls you in it to set the record straight and you don't apologize?

Moving the goalposts in your response is typical internet stuff, but overall that's pretty sad IMO.

[Harry in WashDC]

John Hansell wrote in part, " . . . I created this publication 22 years ago, and the rule I established from Day 1 is that advertising and editorial are 100% independent of each other. A magazine doesn't survive and continue to grow for two decades by being corrupt; It survives on integrity and respect" [i snipped the rest.]

Thanks for adopting this policy and saying so out loud, and more thanks for adhering to it. Some of us find reading hard copy easier and preferable to emag web pages. I also find fewer distractions in hard copy - I'm less likely to forget what I'm looking for or at.

And, while we're on the subject, I, too, like WP rye, but I'm not likely to buy another bottle (and have decided NOT to ration the one I have) at its current price. There are too many competitors out here to get obsessed with one.

Harry (though my bald head says otherwise) in Washington DC (really! I like it here.)

[Edit 3 minutes later.] Darn! Just had my first sip of the day - a Bernheim SmB. Didn't know wheaters could taste this good.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Harry in WashDC

[BigRich]

Wow, you accuse WA of trading editorial content for ad buys, John calls you in it to set the record straight and you don't apologize?

Moving the goalposts in your response is typical internet stuff, but overall that's pretty sad IMO.

I'll second that. This seems to be far afield from the typical gentlemanly behavior we aspire to here.

If I'm being an ass and someone calls me on it then it probably won't change my opinion but at least I'll own up to being an ass.

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[Paddy]

I'll second that. This seems to be far afield from the typical gentlemanly behavior we aspire to here.

If I'm being an ass and someone calls me on it then it probably won't change my opinion but at least I'll own up to being an ass.

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Yep. I don't have a problem with anyone being an ass (I can often be quite good at it). :grin: I also think that sometimes its awfully easy to get a little liquored up and post something that may be a little regrettable in hindsight. I'd even venture that we've all done it a time or two, so really no big deal. Call a foul, raise your hand, move on and keep playing hard.

However, after one commits a slight error, it should be fairly easy to man up and make amends. Heck, I'm really not that smart (I don't even need to be called out to know when I've stepped in dog poo), so its quite unfortunate, when one witnesses a greater error in judgment as one responds at length without acknowledging the initial foul.

Just my opinion (and I'm fully aware that no one asked for it), but John deserves an apology.

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

The people who really like to educate themselves about whiskey (like the people who read magazines, blogs, forums, etc) probably only make up less than 1% of those who consume whiskey. So when trying to build a brand, if leaving out the Canadian origin and having a Vermont tale to sell to 99% of the people who don't care to educate themselves anyway....go for it. WhistlePig is very good at doing a play on words (growing rye on the farm, hand bottled in Vermont...etc) without technically lying...and when they finally age their own rye long enough, they can call themselves the first "farm to bottle" only single estate distillery around. Even if they produce and market a small amount, they can still call themselves this on the label while purchasing rye elsewhere. Another play on words to add to the marketing mix.

[Restaurant man]

The people who really like to educate themselves about whiskey (like the people who read magazines, blogs, forums, etc) probably only make up less than 1% of those who consume whiskey. So when trying to build a brand, if leaving out the Canadian origin and having a Vermont tale to sell to 99% of the people who don't care to educate themselves anyway....go for it. WhistlePig is very good at doing a play on words (growing rye on the farm, hand bottled in Vermont...etc) without technically lying...and when they finally age their own rye long enough, they can call themselves the first "farm to bottle" only single estate distillery around. Even if they produce and market a small amount, they can still call themselves this on the label while purchasing rye elsewhere. Another play on words to add to the marketing mix.

[wadewood]

Portwood, I created this publication 22 years ago, and the rule I established from Day 1 is that advertising and editorial are 100% independent of each other. A magazine doesn't survive and continue to grow for two decades by being corrupt; It survives on integrity and respect.

You don't know anything about me, but you hide behind a false name and accuse me of something I have never done. It's not only sad, it's very hurtful. You attack my character, and I pride myself in being honest and doing the right thing.

Am I perfect? Far from it, but based on your false accusations, neither are you. At least I admit when I am wrong, lean from it, and endeavor to be a better person in the future.

We often get queries from potential advertisers, asking us to write about them if they advertise, because they tell us that other drinks magazines make these promises. Our answer is, and always has been, the same: "No. Take your business elsewhere." If anything it make me want to write about them less, because I don't respect them.

To further separate myself from even the appearance of impropriety, five years ago I made it a policy to no longer accept corporate press trips. If I want to visit a distillery, I pay my own way. No other full-time whisky writer has done this over the past five years.

So, before you make accusations, do your homework first.

John - all good policies. What I would like to see added is that all bottles reviewed be purchased at retail just like any normal consumer could and no bottles be accepted by any of the staff as gifts from producers. That would be an independence voice and review that I would consider valuable.

[squire]

All I want is to audition for a spot on the tasting team.

[flahute]

All I want is to audition for a spot on the tasting team.

Don't you have that gig already locked up at Smooth Ambler?

[squire]

I can multi task.

[Ravensfire]

I can multi task.

[squire]

Two hands is why they put handles on those things.

[sailor22]

But Squire, if you were a pro taster everything would be relative to OGD 114 in value and taste. Seems you would be wasting your time.

[squire]

Perhaps, though I prefer to think of it as engaging in the ineffable pleasure of drinking at someone else's expense.

Edited March 25, 2014 by squire

[sailor22]

True, that is a pleasure. Describing what your drinking and putting it in the context of todays marketplace would be a foot drag on that downhill racer however.