Friday 30 January 2009

Monday 26 January 2009

Sunday 25 January 2009

"The Great Ice and Water debate"

Many people drink whisky straight or with just a tiny drop of water in it. You don't want to heavily dilute the whisky as the purpose of the water is simply to bring out the flavour and nuances from the malt or blend you are drinking.

Whisky or whiskey should be drunk at room temperature, not chilled as it dulls the flavour of the drink which is why many connoisseurs or whisky lovers do not add ice.

The common myth is that whiskies do not get better after they are bottled - the maturing must take place in the cask. So an aged malt of 16 years (that is, one matured 16 years in an oak cask) that was bottled 40 years ago is no better than the 16 year old single malt that was bottled yesterday. Always note that if we are talking of an aged blend or indeed malt of 16 years, this means that the youngest malt must have been matured for a minimum of 16 years although it is likely to have malts upwards of the age stated on the label.

In my next blog I will discuss the topic of whisky versus whiskey...

Friday 23 January 2009

Final post before the weekend

Obviously as time goes on I'm not necessarily going to have the time to put up six or seven posts in a day but I'm going to aim for a good three or four every week until launch of www.prestigewhisky.com in April.

As a last thought for the working work I'm wondering if anyone who's been on the site and or subscribed is a whisky drinker. If so, what would you expect from a retail webside looking to sell you your tipple?
I don't care if you're a Bells blended person or a lover of a Macallan Distillery Spey Malt 1938 65 years old (rrp £ 3,625) let me know what you like, why you like it and whether you'd like to buy it from us !

Leave a post reply or contact me at prestigewhisky@gmail.com

First day of blogging

It's been a long day.

I've spent a lot of today working on prep for some important meetings for one of my other business interests. In the spare time between powerpoint presentations, spreadsheets and phone calls I've managed to set up this blog, work out how to insert a visitor counter (very easy and I highly recommend it - leave me a note if you'd like the link to blog patrol - takes less than 5 minutes) and then get the site pretty much looking as I want.

Firstly I'd like to thank the people who've already visited and read the blog. I've had some interesting comments and helpful critique from colleagues and friends.

Special thanks go to :

Mark Allen - hope you get this post in your reader now you've taken the time to subscribe

Mark Nagurski - really helpful comments and as you can see I've slightly reformatted based on your suggestions

Secondly I'd like to set up some expectations for the blog. Areas I'm planning to cover will include the business elements of 'creating' this new on-line business from scratch; obviously I'd like to use it as a marketing tool where possible and also keep you up to date with where I am in the process, the kinds of things we want to include as product to sell and of course get imput from you the great global whisky buying public as to what you'd like from me.

Hello UKBF and Flying Start ups

Hi there if you're visiting as a result of the forum posts I've just left on UK Business Forums or Flying Start Ups.

Make sure you subscribe via the RSS feed or you become a follower and I'll make sure there's lot's of (interesting ?) content in the next few weeks

Quick shout out ...

I'd love to welcome our newest business partner on-board :

Zoe Brown from Budget Websites based in Woking.

Zoe has just agreed to take on the design and installation work for the new Prestige Whisky site.

Check out the excellent work she's done for her clients in the past at www.bwebsites.co.uk

Trying to create some initial interest in this blog

The Blog is now working - very exciting !

I'm now going to go out and post the details to the various business forums that I subscribe to.

If anyone does visit the blog please feel free to :

1)subscribe and I'll keep you updated on progress to launch and then exclusive special offers once we go live.
2) register as a follower to free receive discounts on every purchase you make from the shop
3) drop me an e-mail on prestigewhisky@googlemail.com with what you think or post a comment here

Hope to start to hear from people soon.

OK so I've created my the blog for my new business

The purpose of http://www.prestigewhisky.com/ is as follows :


obviously to sell lots of whisky !
but also to raise the profile of whisky as the lifestyle drink of choice for those with the money to enjoy it - in other words give people some choice, a high level of customer service and a real feel for the pleasures of one of the most subtle food and drink experiences on earth.



My business model is therefore to retail exclusive and rare whisky to connoiseurs, collectors, corporates, those wishing to buy it as a gift and so forth.

I'll be operating primarily as an on-line retailer but I will offer a special customer-centric telephone and e-mail ordering service so that where possible I can offer the benefit of my experience and passion for my products.



The website will be http://www.prestigewhisky.com/ and I will to point this blog at the site to ensure that new information on the site can be accessed immediately by anyone who subscribes to the RSS feed.

Prestige Whisky Business launch date set provisionally

I'm looking to set up the business from 6th of April 2009.

My websdesigner is retained.

Suppliers are on side with trade accounts.

Finance is good to go (more or less)

Everything is a go ......