We spoke to Ely aka @thescotchwhisperer of instagram. Ely is not only a humble human being but he’s also very generous and believes that whisky is meant to be shared with your close friends and others who appreciate it as well. If you end up being his friend, I am sure you’ll get a chance to win many sample give away contests he holds. Check out his humble beginnings below:
Ely, as we do with all the others, let’s keep it simple. Tell us about yourself.
E: I’ll be turning 36 on New Years. Born and raised in NY. Tight knit family that remains that way today. Lucky and grateful for that. I’ve been a collector my whole life whether it be baseball cards, model cars, dvd’s (I know, big mistake) to now whisky. I have a feeling this collection will last a lot longer than those other stages in my life 🙂
How did you develop an interest in Whisky and what drove you to move that passion onto social media and start your account @thescotchwhisperer?
E: I don’t really recall how I developed an interest in whisky specifically but I do recall when I started collecting. My late great uncle won a 1973 Glenrothes in a charity auction and just decided to just give it to me one day. I brought it home and opened it and shared it with friends… from there I decided I always wanted to have good whisky on hand to serve my guests! As with most hobbies in my life, they kinda took on a life of their own!
As a fellow New Yorker, do you think the East Coast has a strong whisky presence then the West Coast?
E: It’s funny but another reason why I started collecting was the prices for a dram in NYC bars are insane. I remember I went out one night and ordered a Glenlivet 15. The bill was $50! The entire bottle was $35 at the time. From then on I decided to just buy my own! As far as where the presence is stronger I really have no idea and don’t wanna get involved in a Biggie / Tupac debate either!
The posts you feature have dynamic visuals, what are some of your favorite effects or tips to create engaging posts that draw your followers in?
E: Single bottle posts get a lot of love when there is nothing else in the photo… simple and clean. Multiples of the same bottles also do well.
By having this prominent and well followed social media account, how has your life changed? Any examples if it has?
E: My life hasn’t changed a single iota. None of the major distilleries send me anything to review… I think they see that I’m willing to spend my own money so why waste a free sample on me 🙂 Of course I’d be able to market it to a respectable audience. It would be nice but it hasn’t happened.
Is @thescotchwhisperer in the spirits industry full time or does he have another gig and you’re doing this more as a hobby, or maybe for something more?
E: It’s a hobby… gotta pay the bills!
Scotch comes in all shapes and well years… in your honest opinion, does the old stuff trump the younger scotch or even the NAS scotch? or do you think age is just a number and some younger whisky can make a bold statement as well?
E: I’ve had some terrible whisky that was aged for decades and some awesome young lively whisky. It varies. For the most part the big brands put out quality product and I’m happy to patronize them. I do find it very difficult though to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a bottle that we have no idea what the provenance of the spirit is. That’s tough.
If you could give us some feedback or tips for young aspiring influencers or whisky lovers, what would they be? Well
E: I don’t consider myself an influencer really so any feedback would sound silly… I have a nice amount of followers and people I interact with on a daily basis from the Instagram community but its just that – relationships. Haven’t really made a concerted effort to ‘influence’ per se. Advice for whisky lovers? I’d have to say share, share and share some more. There is nothing lonelier than drinking by yourself! Even if I am not drinking with 90% of my followers I still send them samples just so they can enjoy bottles that they otherwise would not have an opportunity to purchase be it financial reasons or availability in their region. Selfishly, it’s a nice sense of fulfillment when I’m able to do that.
Your account features some really old age statement Scotches, do you personally have a favorite? If so which one? also on that topic, what is the oldest age statement you own, if you don’t mind sharing with us.
E: I’d have to say my favorite ‘old’ whisky would be a tossup between the Balvenie 40 year old and Macallan 30 year old Sherry Oak. As for my oldest that I own – I have a Macallan Speymalt bottle distilled in 1945 and bottled in 2016 – just a couple days shy of 71 years so officially a 70 year bottle. I believe it’s actually the oldest Macallan ever bottled by the distillery or independent bottler. I also have a really cool 60 year old I bought from Master of Malt which they bottled… they won’t say the distillery but most people in the industry believe it is Glenfarclas.
Is there a certain direction you hope to take your Instagram account, and should we look out for something special in the near future?
E: I think I’m just going to continue to do what I’ve been doing… posting what I feel are beautiful photos of awesome whisky! I randomly do giveaways all the time so I guess stay tuned for more of those!
Anything else you’d like to share with our followers?
E: Yes. I really enjoy interacting with each and every one of them. I’ve met many in person and have nothing but good experiences. Obviously though it goes without saying that I’m grateful that they chose to follow me but I also need to apologize for not being able to send out samples to each and every one of them! That’s the worst part!
