Lew Has Left The Building

I regret to say that four months after resigning my position as managing editor, I will no longer be writing a column or whiskey reviews for Whisky Advocate. After more than 20 years of being part of the voice of the magazine, I was told on Monday that because the magazine was "going in a different direction," my services in those capacities were no longer needed.

I was afforded an incredible opportunity, and I'm grateful for that, however it ended. It has also been a complete pleasure to work with this loosely-knit team of the best whisky writers in the world. Every three months, fascinating writing would arrive in my inbox, affording me a fantastic whisky education.

It has been an equal pleasure to work with representatives from all parts of the industry, to watch that grow from a solid core of long-term veterans in the mid-1990s to a small army of exciting new personalities as the industry entered another boom phase, and then to welcome the small producers of the craft distilling category. I very much look forward to continuing that association.

I've certainly also enjoyed the readers of the magazine: their excitement, their loyalty, their engagement, and their eager interest in the brown spirit that's entranced us all. It's been fantastic to meet you at the events over the years, and I hope to see all of you in the future.

Of course, I'm not leaving whiskey! There's a new book project to work on, I've returned to writing this blog (really, I have, and I know I owe you some whiskey reviews), and several magazines have welcomed me back as a freelancer (with more projects in the works). I'm also back to writing about beer, which I missed terribly, and that will now expand as well. I may even expand my writing into new areas; I have a couple projects percolating.

Onward and outward!

One door closes, and many more open. What do the different directions of the future hold for me? Nothing's sure, but I hope it holds more opportunities to see each of you, and more chances to work with you, in some capacity or another. I'm certain it will hold more chances to share a drink and some laughs.

My very best regards,

Lew Bryson

Watch This Space...

Something's fermenting; distillation to follow.

See the timer for when we tap the keg and pop the bung.

Happy New Year.

Moving On

There is going to be a major change in this blog.

I'm going to stop writing it...mostly.

I have accepted a full-time position as managing editor of Whisky Advocate magazine, which starts today. Part of the terms of employment were that my writing is to be exclusive to the magazine, so I agreed to stop writing further about beer and whiskey on this blog.

I will still be writing occasionally about personal travel, and since I'm still very much a beer and whiskey drinker, there will be talk about that. But I'll be writing tasting notes and trend analysis elsewhere. An exception was made for the Session Beer Project blog, and it will continue, so there's that.

It's been fun. It's been an education. I thank you all for reading, and I hope some of you will stick around for the next chapter. I'll have some information for you next year about a project I'm currently wrapping up: my first whiskey book, titled Tasting Whiskey, from Storey Publishing, due out next year about this time.

Quick nap before continuing to write more Tasting Whiskey...