daily blog.saturday.12.10.13

well,first day back at my other job.feels strange to be back.still waking up and wondering where I am.jet lag.feels odd.trying to track down old engineering firm that did a lot of finishing work at the distillery.seems like they havegone off the grid.i am working on this.let you know.also trying to get old newspaper articles about the dististillery,bit difficult.plan in action.well better go.have got another plan for better advertising of our whisky in NZ.take care.

daily blog.thurs 10.10.13

hi everyone,it appears that after speaking to a lot of people today how little our whisky is out there in godzone.good ol NZ does not drink enough of its whisky because nobody knows where to get it.i will try and sort that.i am suffering from jet lag and have a humdinger of a headache.i will fix that.time for a snooze.i believe that our product is the best ever and whether its a doublewood or a 21yr old,a cask strength or a 25 yr old,it is supreme .you just have to try it.see you later.

daily blog .weds 9.10.13

arrived at Auckland a bit bedraggled.after 40 hrs,unshaven.a bit of a mess.flight great.singapore airlines are great.good meals and lovely people.convinced a few of the passengers to try the whisky.same old story,they have not heard of it.note to Greg,we need to advertise it more domestically.the world outside of NZ knows.we have agoldmine product.now NZ has to discover what they have.take care.blog soon.

flying home.monday.

hi,had to cut short last blog and get on theplane for Frankfurt.Now her and due to fly out at 2100hrs.sitting down having a drink.should be a 21 yr old NZ south island whisky.never mind.met some great people again at the show and had an interview with Dominic Roskrow.a lovely man who is very passionate about our whisky.eric burgess our UK ambassador wasthere,great guy,hi Eric,great to see you.i will miss toy all but maybe if Greg comes back he maybring me thanks everyone.i better go.take care.

Final day spreading the gospel

well here we go again,on the way home this time.the short time at the show was great.but glad to be going home after making so many new friends

Lorne Mackillop did tastings and valuations for previous owners Warren & Deb Preston and knows NZ whisky well!

In between book signings, Ingvar Ronde was very complimentary, particularly the South Island Single Malt

the Dutch Whisky Army just kept coming back & back! they LOVED our Cask Strengths

The Balvenie Team wanted to find out what all the fuss was, and comfort us that the DoubleWood court case doesn't affect friendships. The girl here, KerriAnn's Great-Great-Great Grandfather, worked with Greg Ramsay's Great-Great-Great-Grandfather BEFORE he built a little distillery called GlenFiddich. His name was William Grant!

Andrew from a local whisky society just kept on sipping!

The event owner Sukhinder, is our biggest retailer in UK

 Writer Dominic Roskrow lived in NZ for a while and is looking release his own Limited Edition Independent Bottling of our SingleWood and our DoubleWood at Cask Strength

Not sure who this lady was, but she liked the juice!

Our neighbours Cora and Chris, are getting married this weekend!

We were both completely KNACKERED after so many days on our feet, spreading the gospel of NZ Whisky!

Our other neighbour Andrew Jefford has some lovely English Whiskies and a ready-made laugh for every occassion.

Tour of London and Weeing on Queen Lizzie's Lawn

went and had a short tour around the main tourist spots in London this morning.

went to Buckingham palace and got caught up in a fun run for charity.blokes leaving the run for a pee behind the trees,amazing only in London.hope the queen was not looking.

bought some knickknacks then went onto the show.we got there early and a huge crowd met us waiting to get in.everyone loves whisky.we set up and immediately got enveloped by people wanting to taste NZ whisky.met the worlds top whisky bloggers and they are in love with as they say the best whisky at the show.everything from the doublewood to the cask strength 1990 61.7%..totally. Blown away by the reception and the friendship which abounds in the whisky fraternity.one big family all the way.the owner of the show loved our 1998 @46% as did the whisky bloggers who said our 21yr old was amazing.going to get an early night as I am going to the show early and then leaving for NZ at 1705.going to he airport at 1330 .big trip home.40-42hrs.be home on weds at 1625hrs.i have been spoiled and have loved this so much.whisky is a passion and I love it .Thankyou.write when I get back.take care.

Meeting Whisky Royalty AND film stars

today was a fantastic day with a totally new crowd of people and me not having to try my bad French.we had the 1993 which was such an amazing whisky with plenty of flavour and my favourite 1990 @ 61.7%,so lovelyand then the 1988 which was fantastic.in Paris the 15 yr old doublewood played centre stage but in London the 1990 was supreme.

another HUMUNGOUS crowd had gathered to meet Cyril

i met my whisky hero today Charles McLean (whisky writer, reviewer and star from movie "The Angel's Share" and "Shackelton's Whisky" doco)

The Who's Who of Whisky wanted to meet Cyril and taste his handiwork

 having already met David Broome. whisky's great writers sharing time with yours truly and having a photograph with me.so great.

Charles MacLean introducing Cyril to whisky critic Ian Buxton

london is just so busy and the passion with the whisky lovers amazing.tomorrow another busy day and yours truly has no voice ,still full of the flu so early night to get some composure and strength t follow my passion as well.bye for now.drink NewZealand Whisky.its great.

Friday pm.daily blog

just arrived at holiday inn Southwark.not far from tower of London and close to vinnipolis where the whisky show will be tomorrow.we are pretty tired but hungry so are going to go and get a meal.Charlie the duty manager recommended an Italian restaurant down the road.gregs luggage finally arrived 5 days late.british airways got that wrong.flu slowly getting better so should have a good weekend at the show talking about our whisky to the London crowd.17 degrees outside and it is 10 at night.bye for now.

thurs4.10.13

who gave me this flu,don't feel 100% but we will carry on.it is now 0730 and breakfast is at 0800.superb.pancakes and maple syrup.that will hit the spot lovely.coffee and a chat and then getting ready for our onwards journey.hopefully no fog and I might just get to see the vista that surrounds me.met some great people here last night and had a few bevvies.some chaps are fishing and hoping the luck will change today.bye for now.

blog.thurs.pm

we are now in the highlands at Killdrummy lnn.hard job getting here by car from Glasgow.pea soup fog.what a struggle.the road has snow poles on the side.high poles with reflectors,red on the left and white on the right.they would be six feet high and they get covered in snow.hence the high reflectors.the worst fog was at spittal of glen shee and we had to stop as we thought wehad run out of road.could not see a thing.tea tonight was haggis entree and then a great salmon Mel with a white sauce.fresh fudge with a whisky flavour.beautiful.a few drams and a few Guinness,what a life.time for bed.goodnight.

cyrils daily blog.thurs 3.10.13

morning everyone,another busy day today,we are inGlasgow at the moment and are staying at the Marks hotel in Bath st.Great hotel,wifi a bit hard to get onto.Today we are going to see the Dram Magazine reporter for an interview about my days in the distillery,1974 till 1995 and then off to visit some whisky retailers and reps. Later on we are hiring a car and driving into the highlands and going to Mortlach and Benromach distilleries tomorrow.Staying at Killydrum tonight and Greg will be seeing the management couple while we are there.I am totally full of a head cold so will be going to find a solution for this problem today.Greg did warn me about travelling and the woes of bugs on planes and airport.Note to self,be aware.TAKE CARE EVERYONE AND DRINK NEWZEALAND WHISKY.its got to be good for you.Ilove it and i think that you would to.

weds 3 10.13

on the train from Dundee to Glasgow.met quite a few reps and whisky shop owners today,great chat and discussions about whisky.staying at marks hotel in Glasgow and meal with friends of gregs.interview with whisky mag Dram reporter.all good.sore feet.bye for now.

daily blog.weds 2.10.13

up early this morning Greg said I snored quite badly.feel a head cold coming on.must drink more whisky.great. Cure.went for a walk around the main shopping structure and love the old stone construction which abounds everwhere.greg has alot of memories here through his formative years and his working as a caddy at the st Andrews golf course.we walked around the outskirts of the course quite early and people at already here playing and soaking up the atmosphere of the famous course.we are to Glasgow today with various stops and I have been meeting some extraordinary people here and so amiable and friendly.the Russell hotel where we are,just up the road from st Andrews is great and the owner Gordon and the two staff Sandra and Alex are fantastic.bye for now.will blog later.

my daily blog.tues 1st oct.

flew out of Paris today,arrived late into Heathrow and we missed connecting flight to Edinburgh so had to wait 3 hrs for nxt flight.the security checks at Heathrow are very strict and time consuming and may have slowed us down.never mind we got there in the end.met reps from distributors for our whisky and had photo taken with reps at balmoral whisky bar that carries our whiskies.great people and great to talk to.love our whisky and hopefully will distribute more.staying at st Andrews tonight and will have a look around tomorrow.time for shower and tea.big day tomorrow.take care .

my daily blog

monday30th Sept.last day at Paris whisky show.great experience and even managed to try quite a few of the other whiskies from the other show stands.all fantastic with great tastes and very different from each other.hard though to beat good old new Zealand .i might be biased but I still believe that we are the best.our product has great tastes,smells superb and has a huge variety across all of them.1990 is ny personal favorite and at cask strength is full if vibrant flavour and taste.they are all magnificent and if you try them you will see that I am right.time for sleep as we have an early start.i am going to get an hr and a half but that is enough.

we went for a meal last night in a restaurant hosted by an expat kiwi named drew harri.meal was excellent. the area where the meal was in is very old but rich in affluence great stuff.see you later .