World Whisky Day – Why?

Today is “World Whisky Day“, and as a whisky blogger, I suppose I should be playing the role of educator and cheerleader; encouraging everyone to embrace, participate, and celebrate this latest holiday that’s been around since 2012. I’m not sure that I’m on board with all of that, but first – let’s cover what it is.

Per their web-site (yes, they have a web-site), the paraphrased/gist is:

World Whisky Day invites everyone to try a dram and celebrate the water of life. All you need is a bottle of whisky to share with your friends. World Whisky day celebrates all types of whisky/whiskey and encourages everyone to enjoy whisky responsibly.

As I read that,  my initial thought was “Isn’t that . . . well, every day?” Or at least every day where you have the opportunity? As a whiskey enthusiast, it isn’t like if a friend asks “Want to come over and share a bottle” on May 18th I would look at my calendar and reply “But this isn’t World Whisky Day – can we wait until tomorrow?” If I ever say that (outside of dripping with sarcasm), I hope that friend would stop by, justly slap me across the face with a white (or any available) glove and proclaim that I have injured their sensibilities.

Ok – so whiskey enthusiasts don’t need this holiday; we celebrate the water of life at every given opportunity (and I know some of us go out of our way to create such opportunities!) If this isn’t for us, who is it for? Is this to raise awareness with those non-whiskey enthusiasts?

While not scientific, I did a straw poll around my office – folks that I hadn’t ever talked to about whiskey – to see how many of them were familiar with World Whisky Day. This is where I was hoping to report “Not a single damn one” – but full transparency – one person (just one) had heard of it. I was surprised, but asked them how they heard about it, and if they had plans to celebrate it. They explained that they recalled seeing a tweet on it, but didn’t know when it was (this poll was taken yesterday – the day before) or what it was. They tried to act like they wanted to know more about it – but I think this was just to be polite since they may know of my fondness/obsession for whiskey.

I think what bugs me about this is that not a week goes by without there being some newly declared “holiday” or “special day” that we’re all supposed to pay attention to. For example – did you know that today also “National Devil’s Food Cake Day” and “National Learn to Swim Day”? And yesterday was “National Pizza Party Day”? If there was something else I love almost as much as whiskey – it’d be pizza . . . and apparently I failed in spectacular fashion to respect National Pizza Party Day.

My point is simply this: Life is short. Every day you have a chance to share whiskey with friends, do just that. Share it, enjoy it, and each other’s company. Celebrate those moments and memories, because they’re fleeting – and one day those opportunities may not present themselves.

Now excuse me while I engage in hypocrisy of the highest order by attending a “World Whisky Day” party with some friends, which will have whisky from all over the world.

Cheers!
Gary