Things You Need To Know About #1
Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 07:24PM This is the first post in what will be a series of articles concerning valuable resources in the California drinking community. I want to highlight the fact that I have no reason other than my own admiration to write these pieces or offer my endorsement. Many people have found their way to this blog and K&L in general due to a friend's recommendation or a positive web review, so I want to pass along the same service to a few choice establishments that I feel do booze right. Hopefully they'll get a bit of a rub from any readers I can send their way as they fully deserve it.
TYNTKA #1 - The Los Angeles Whiskey Society - The guys at LAWS have the best whiskey webpage on the internet - hands down. If I need to get some tasting notes for a bottle or an idea of what a customer can expect for something I've never tried, I don't pick up the Whisky Bible, nor do I reach for a monthly publication with Parker points and numerical evaluations - my first destination is always the LAWS webpage. The layout is fantastic, the number of whiskies reviewed is outrageous, and the site is easy to navigate with helpful, detailed tasting notes. The question is: can you trust their reviews? Having dealt with Adam and Steve on a somewhat regular basis, I can tell you that they are stingy critics, and I mean that in a good way. There's no point in asking someone who likes everything what their opinion is. I'm not always to best person to ask either because I have to answer to the companies I criticize, therefore limiting how honest I can really be. When these guys enjoy a whiskey, you can count on their endorsement holding some weight. When they don't like a whiskey, they don't pull any punches. No one else on the web who has the tasting experience of LAWS can say the same thing. Bad whiskies get treated with kid gloves by most writers because there's too much business at risk. LAWS is just a group of passionate guys who love whisky and who maintain an incredible database, so they're free to be as honest as they please. Anyone who reads my paltry blog, should definitely be checking in with their site.
-David Driscoll
Reader Comments (5)
Thanks for the props, David!
Well deserved.
Thanks for you comments David! It's great to know that people value the LAWS site.
I'm a HUGE fan of the LAWS site. Probably the best one out there - and a logical scale. A through B- are very meaningful. C+ and beyond are less clearly defined but the broad strokes are there.
A ton of whiskies reviewed, generally pretty timely and pretty no-bullshit. What's not to like?
On my inaugural visit to this site (couple years ago) one of the earliest descriptions I read unflinchingly proclaimed a particularly lowly Scotch, "Absolute shit." They don't just pan bad whiskies, they roast them to hell. If nothing else, they'll hook you with amusing profanity and entertaining ridicule.