So who are we and what do we do?
"We are a family owned online retailer of premium whiskies and other spirits. Our services include tasting sessions and Whisky Ambassador training courses. Whether you are a connoisseur, collector, investor or just enjoy drinking premium spirits we have products that will interest you."
That's the quick overview but how did we get to the point of setting up a business?
Our story starts over 30 years ago when I first got a taste for whisky. While I had managed to sneak the obligatory wee dram when I was younger it was not a match for my palate being too "fiery". When I did eventually get a taste for whisky, it was as they say right in at the deep end with "Ardbeg" This was the classic 10 year old, now very collectable. My friend had been doing some work on Islay at the Ardbeg Distillery and he conveniently brought home some bottles for us to sample: from there I was hooked.
This started my passion both for drinking and collecting whisky. What started out as a hobby, turned into a nice way of earning some pocket money and over the years I have seen my collection, knowledge and taste for whisky grow.
It had always been a dream of mine to set up some sort of business involving whisky and other spirits, I came close around 20 years ago when I registered some domain names, including Malt Whisky Direct with a view to starting a web based business. The idea went no further at that stage as my career took off in another direction and the remainder of my time was taken up by my family.
Fast forward 30 years and we have now launched maltsandspirits.com. This has not been an easy process, but all the hard work has been worthwhile – particularly seeing the business taking shape, from refurbishing our offices to the website going live. We still have a long way to go, but hope our customers will enjoy our website and services we provide.