Welcome (Failte) to the Whisky Society Fellowship.
Connect internationally with fellow whisky enthusiast societies & associations – Join the Whisky Fellowship movement! Together with the Malt Whisky Association of Finland, Angels Whisky Club has formulated a plan through which different whisky enthusiast organizations in various parts of the world can co-operate together in a fun & beneficial way.
We may be far apart, but in today’s world people travel more than ever, and a union of fellow whisky enthusiasts can offer a new angle and depth to the hobby we all love. General points of Global Whisky Society Fellowship between societies, club and associations:
1. Joining the Whisky Society Fellowship costs nothing to a club.
2. Our aim is to organize once a year a get-together tasting between delegations from various societies, hosted by one of the member organizations.
3. International whisky enthusiasts’ welcome dram, and “vow of hospitality” (on best effort basis, of course). Whenever a member of one of the societies travels to the other’s location (looking for whisky), there is some possibility of contacting the other society, and letting them know of this individual coming to their town. There’s no obligation, but maybe some member’s can volunteer to meet with the individual(s), and perhaps also help them find a good whisky bar, or show them around a bit, or just meet for drinks informally. If there are whisky distilleries in the country, we can also put in a good word for the guests, making sure they get top treatment during their visit. (Mika: I can certainly say that if anyone comes to Helsinki, some of our members can show the persons around, and help them find places and drink an informal welcome dram etc.)
4. An invitation to any annual whisky festival / event the society arranges locally. Perhaps we can at least extend an invite to few persons to come over & represent other clubs to see & enjoy the event as guests.(the travellers and their club will need to cover their expenses).
5. Every 5 years, a bigger meeting/get-together between delegations, where members get to know each other, have dinner, taste whiskies etc. Most likely in Scotland.
6. Jointly organized trips, and assistance in organizing trips: If one member society organizes a trip to Japan, Ireland, Scotland, USA or Canada (for example), interested fellowship society members may want join in, and can. Similarly, if one fellowship society is organizing a whisky tour, I am quite certain that we could benefit from each other’s experiences and knowledge in doing so, by sharing tour organizer data, information on locations, routes and places planned to visit. We may also be able to introduce each other to great whisky guides, or guest speakers who we’ve met and found to be excellent in their knowledge, and people we’d highly recommend.
7. Worthy Whisky Bars –listing to share. Many guides and such try to compile database on good whisky pubs & bars from around the world: Problem is, often the lists are outdated, or information is gained from commercially interested parties, i.e. they do not represent the views of enthusiasts. Together we could really make a grand map listing of worthy whisky bars & pubs that can be shared amongst participating societies.
8. New societies joining in: In general, the Fellowship is meant to be an open organization that any whisky / whiskey enthusiast group can join. To avoid any discrepancies and disagreements, any new society joining this plan can and will be discussed openly with the other parties involved (each club, society etc needs to give contact person names whom to keep in touch with). If needed, we can cast a vote aye / nae amongst ourselves for future memberships, and discuss the membership applications prior to approval. The objective here is to respect the view of each member society, not to discriminate against any potential member society.
9. Joint events (like the 5-year meetings) are always discussed together openly.
Final words on the Whisky Society Fellowship: This idea was not planned to create added burden or commercial / financial obligations to anyone. We do what we can, and try to create fun events and happenings that could be shared globally with like-minded organizations, and of course the people who belong to them. There is no obligation as such binding any society to participate to activities, or to organize activities etc. If & when needed. When this movement starts to grow, we can formulate more formal “rules & regulations”. Paul and Mika both have enjoyed enormously meeting numerous fellow whisky enthusiasts, professionals etc over the years, and we have seen already how gross-global co-operation benefits all participating parties. We have a united vision of how this organization could really benefit organizations around the world, whilst also strengthening the whisky culture in various countries. Together we are stronger, and wiser. Let us unite in this positive way and make this movement mutually beneficial and enjoyable!
Sincerely,
Mika R. Jansson. President, Malt Whisky Association of Finland
Paul Mclean. Chairman, Angel’s Whisky Club
www.angelswhiskyclub.com
http://angelswhiskyclub.com/awc/whiskysocietyfellowship.asp
