Q - Johannes - Who are you?
A - Well...  the short answer is that I'm an writer/editor/translator/webmaster living in Amsterdam, Holland.
If you really want to know more about the man behind the malts you should check out my personal introduction.
(Although I obviously can't guarantee that you'll like me very much after I've exposed all my flaws ;-)
 
Q - You are Dutch - Why is the site in English?
A - When I started this site single malt whiskies were not quite as trendy as they are today.
After converting my circle of close personal acquaintances to single malts, my preaching seemed to reach mostly deaf ears here in Holland. At the same time, there was an international malt community forming on the world wide web. What's more: most Dutch people speak English, but few English speaking people speak Dutch - and that's probably just as well.
Besides - my English needed improvement anyway...
 
Q - What is the history and background of Malt Madness / Malt Maniacs?
A - The Malt Madness site started out as an article in the English version of my Dutch E-zine 'Weird Planet Magazine' in 1996. Maintaining both an English and a Dutch version of Weird Planet proved too time-consuming, so the English version of WP is no longer available. Because I received so many reactions on my article on single malt scotch whisky I decided to add a few pages and transform it into a genuine website. Since then the site has moved two times and has grown to well over 250 pages.
 
Q - What is your relation with The Whisky Exchange?
A - Purely platonic - I haven't gone all 'commercial' on you ;-)
Malt Madness remains as independant and (sometimes painfully) honest as ever.
However, after the traffic to MM exceeded the limits on my personal hosting account by the late 1990's I was confronted with a choice; I would either have to start paying money so that all visitors would be able to read MM (and not even I am that mad) or find a 'hosting' sponsor that was willing to accept our complete 'editorial' independence. That turned out to be scotchwhisky.com from the UK. After the ownership of scotchwhisky.com changed in 2005, Sukhinder Singh from The Whisky Exchange kindly agreed to host both Malt Madness and Malt Maniacs on the servers of The Whisky Exchange in exchange for a credit at the bottom of every page. Well, that seemed like a very sweet deal indeed. Thanks, Sukhinder! And a big thank you to the technical wizard Tom Craig as well...
 
Q - How do I navigate through this website?
A - Quite comfortably I would imagine, as long as you understand that MM is divided into three main segments.
First of all there's the 'general' part, containing (apart from this 'help' page) a personal introduction about yours truly, a sitemap to guide you through the site, a contact page and a collection of liquid links to the best whisky websites in the world. Next to this small 'general' segment the site is divided into 'Malt Madness' (the 'purely personal' part of the site) and 'Malt Maniacs' (a collective effort dedicated to the explorations of our international group of maniacs). Each segment is divided further into five sections;

Malt Madness is divided into:
[1] My Liquid Log (a chronological overview of my alcoholic adventures containing over 200 entries.)
[2] The Beginner's Guide (Ten chapters stuffed with information aimed at the novices in maltland.)
[3] The Distillery Data section (All active distilleries in Scotland - and a few silent ones and upstarts too.)
[4] My Track Record (An A-Z overview of the 1000+ single malts I've tried so far, as well as links to my notes.)
[5] The mAlmanac (A section with - hopefully - useful information for both novices and seasoned imbibers.)

Malt Maniacs is divided into:
[1] Credentials (The 'essential credentials' of the 24 certified malt maniacs.)
[2] Archive (A complete overview of all the E-pistles we've written for our E-zine so far.)
[3] Matrix (Very popular among the number freaks; scores on more than 1000 single malts.)
[4] Awards (Once a year twelve maniacs evaluate some of the best single malts of that year.)
[5] Loony Bin (Everything that didn't fit into the other sections, including the Lex-icon of distilleries.)

These are just the main sections; many sections consists of dozens of individual pages.
The 'tabs' at the top of every page will take you to different sections of the site while the pane at the left allows you to browse through the site section you're in at the moment. Once you understand my mad logic it should make sense - I hope...
Please check out the sitemap if you want to see (almost) all available pages at a glance.
 
Q - What are the 'browser specifications' of MM?
A - The design and lay-out of this site are tailored to the browsing configuration of 'the majority'.
This means that you may experience some technical difficulties if you don't use:
- Operating System: Windows 95/98/2000/Me/XP
- Browser: Internet Explorer 4.0 or above (most interactive stuff doesn't work with FireFox)
- Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels
- Screen Colors: High or True Color Mode
- Browser font size: 'Medium'
- System font size: 11 or 12
- TrueType font Verdana installed.
 
If you use another browser than Internet Explorer interactive items like the Mega Malt Map may not work.
If you use a smaller screen resolution than 1024x768 (probably 800x600) you'll have to scroll horizontally.
Those of you with a larger screen resolution will have some extra useless space at the right of their screen.
Just look at it as room to make notes -) 
 
Q - Why do some pieces of text overlap?
A - I didn't feel like hand-coding all the HTML myself, so I used NetObjects Fusion 4.0 to build the site.
This means I (or rather you ;-) have to put up with one annoying bug w.r.t. the display of some text elements.
If the text on a page overlaps try decreasing the font size of your browser under the 'View' pull-down menu.
Or even easier for PC users with a scroll mouse: press the Ctrl button and scroll with your mouse wheel up (smaller text) or down (bigger text). If you select the 'standard' setting you should be able to view every page on the site without any problems. Screen size and screen color can be adjusted on most screens in the Windows control panel. Very much like the Dutch swamp-worm, this site grows out of its skin every two years or so - I may be able to solve the problem in a future incarnation of the site.
 
Q - Why do some pages take so long to load?
A - With more and more people enjoying the benefits of a broadband connection I decided to add some more pictures to the site to give your eyes something to rest on inbetween scanning the vast amounts of text on these pages. Also, I often try to collect as much information as possible on a single page, so you can flick through it easily once the entire page has loaded. If you're still crawling across the world wide web with a 28K8 or 56K6 connection you may want to try a trick I used when I was suffering under similar circumstances. Just open an extra browser window and read one page while the other is loading.
And remember: patience is a virtue...
 
Q - Can I write something for Malt Maniacs as well?
A - Yes you can! After all, Malt Maniacs is all about collecting as many different perspectives as possible.
Just contact me if you want to become a 'foreign correspondent' and share your opinions and experiences with others.
You might want to check out the answer to the next question as well.
 
Q - Can I join the Malt Maniacs?
A - No you can't! Well, at least not at the moment...
To keep things cosy (not to mention manageable), we decided to limit the number of maniacs to 24.
At the beginning of 2005 Dave Broom and Lawence Graham decided to join our little on-line collective, bringing the number of certified malt maniacs to the maximum of 24. Does that mean that from now on nobody will ever get the chance to join our ranks? No, fortunately not. We also publish articles (called E-pistles) from malt lovers and peatheads that are not (yet) members of our team. Anybody who submits at least one E-pistle for publication in Malt Maniacs deserves the title of 'foreign correspondent' and is eligable for a place on the 'core' team of 24 maniacs next year.

Membership of the maniacs is not for recreational drammers with feeble livers.
As a malt maniac you're expected to do some 'serious' dramming and - more importantly - share your impressions and opinions with other malt lovers. So, at the end of each year I cast my evil eye across the ranks of the maniacs to determine if all maniacs behaved maniacally enough during the last year - i.e. contributed to the common good in the form of E-pistles. If it turns out that one or more 'foreign correspondents' are more active than some maniacs themselves, I'm ruthless enough to wield my dictatorial powers and offer their places on the team to foreign correspondents who have contributed more to 'the cause' in the past year.

Yeah, yeah, I know: I'm a ruthless bastard - but then again we live in a cruel, cruel world.
So, contact me by e-mail if you want to overthrow one of the current certified malt maniacs ;-) 
 
Q - I want to try some single malt Scotch whiskies. Where do I start?
A - Ah, now you're talking my language! First off, here are three important tips for beginners.
Tip #1: Don't buy just one bottle of single malt whisky - buy two or three and try them head-to-head.
Tip #2: Use gognac bowls, sherry copita's or wine glasses - or buy some if you don't have any.
Tip #3: Read the Beginners Guide beforehand to enhance your enjoyment and prevent mishaps.
But MM has plenty of suggestions for more seasoned malt lovers as well, mind you... The Hit List offers an overview of my personal favourite single malt whiskies while the Bang-For-Your-Buck List focuses on the malts that offer the best value for money. And you don't have to rely on my purely personal opinion either - the matrix shows the scores of a dozen malt maniacs for well over a thousand different single malts while the awards section highlights some of the very best bottlings currently available.
 
Q - What is the best single malt whisky in the world?
A - Back in the early 1990's I would probably have answered: the Lagavulin 16yo (OB).
However, since then I've learned that 'the' best single malt doesn't exist. It all depends on personal preferences, as well as present company, weather conditions and the mood of the day. Personal preferences are more or less predestined (although tastes can 'evolve' as your nose and palate become more educated), but the other factors I mentioned are variables. For example; I might just enjoy a dram of Tobermory on a sunny day in the company of Heidi Klum right after I've received a hugh pay-rise more than a glass of Lagavulin while being beaten over the head with a big stick by Osama Bin Laden. In the rain...
So, it's all relative...

What's more, we all have different tastes and it's entirely feasible that yours are different from mine.
In fact, I'm almost certain that they are. It's very likely that you don't like some of the writers and composers mentioned in my personal introduction, and it's the same with single malts. And variation in personal taste is the least of our 'problems'. You can look at a single malt whisky from many different perspectives. Maybe you find the nose much more important than the taste - or vice versa. Or maybe you're more interested in development over time than in the way it responds to water. There's something to be said for balance in the nose of a malt, but a whisky that goes ballistic in one corner of the spectrum can be very enjoyable as well.

But all these 'problems' are not really problems - they are what make the world of single malts so much fun!
If you're interested in my personal favourite single malts, you should check out my Hit List in the mAlmanac.
The Malt Maniacs Matrix offers a much more 'democratic' overview of more than 1000 single malt whiskies.
 
Q - What is the worst single malt whisky in the world?
A - Loch Dhu 10yo (OB) - whether it comes in a 20cl, 70cl or even 100cl bottle.
I realise that this short and sweet answer seems to contradict my answer to the previous question, but the majority of the malt maniacs seem to agree the 'worst' single malt whisky ever produced was the Loch Dhu 10yo. By and large the most single malts released on the market range from very decent to superb, but every now and them a small disaster in a bottle manages to sneak its way onto my shelves. Check out the Shit List for an overview of some other malts that I think are 'avoidable'. But then again: maybe you shouldn't avoid them - after a Drumguish 3yo you'll appreciate a relatively 'mainstream' Glenlivet 12yo all the more.
 
Q - How can I find information about whisky in general?
A - Well, that's easy: the Beginners Guide offers all the 'basic' information you'll need.
After that, you may want to flick through my Liquid Log and the Archive of Malt Maniacs.
The Distillery Data section.offers plenty of statistics and background information about all Scottish distilleries.
Like most of this website, the beginners guide and DD section focus on single malt whiskies produced in Scotland.
But there's more in the world of whisky - check out the Deviant Drams section for my notes on other whiskies.
If everything else fails, make sure to check out the Liquid Links page before you try to google it.
 
Q - How can I find information about a particular whisky?
A - That's easy too. Just go to my Track Record and you will find my score for that whisky.
Clicking on the name of the malt will take you to the appropriate tasting notes in my Liquid Log. If I haven't tried a particular bottling, it's entirely possible that some of the other malt maniacs did. Check out the MM Matrix for the scores of over a thousand malts that were sampled by at least 3 maniacs. The MM Monitor on Whiskyfun that's maintained by Serge Valentin features even more single malts. But obviously the easiest way to find data on a specific whisky is by using the search box above. If you want to find out when a particular official bottling was bottled, we usually don't know more than you do. In some cases we offer our 'best guess', but that's just what it is - our 'best guess'... When we estimate a bottle was bottled around 2000 it could be 1999 or 2001 as well.
 
Q - How can I find information about a particular distillery?
A - The Distillery Data section contains information about +/- 90 active distilleries in Scotland.
Actually, it contains information about quite a few silent distilleries and new projects in Scotland as well
The Lex-icon on Malt Maniacs offers an overview of the malt whisky distilleries in the rest of the world.
Use the search box if the distillery you're looking for isn't listed.
 
Q - I found a dusty old bottle of whisky - What's its worth?
A - I get a lot of questions about the value of 'collector's items' like Macallan '1874' or bottles recovered from a sunken ship. I have to admit that I'm not a collector myself, so I really wouldn't know anything about it - it's what the buyer is willing to pay for it, I guess. Maybe you can find some more information through one of the liquid links or Google. But please keep in mind that the bottles you find on eBay or in some stores might actually be fake - so it's wise to keep your eyes open at all times.
 
Q - I like this website. How can I get one of those?
A - Unless you have 'professional' aspirations, building and maintaining a website isn't too difficult.
Some basic writing skills and knowledge of HTML and graphics would come in handy, but other than that you don't need that much too start. Unless you really want the 'professional' stuff like Adobe Photoshop, much of the software you'll need is available as freeware or shareware on the web. In case you're thinking about a more professional site, I might be able to help out - for a modest fee of course. Feel free to contact me for more information or check out the NerdQuake site for some examples of my other work.
 
Q - I don't like this website. Am I crazy?
A - Well, evidently - at least if some of the 'fanmail' the maniacs and I receive is any indication.
Just take a quick glace at the list of 'testimonials' from other visitors I've added to the 'contact' page.
Judging from their words (soothing balm for my ego), It would seem they are pleased enough with our efforts.
Of course, I'm conveniently ignoring the fact that those who don't like MM probably won't bother to let me know ;-)
 
Q - What's the meaning of life?
A - I'm currently very busy with my research into the matter.
I'll let you know as soon as I've processed all the data and made sense of it all...
There is, however, one preliminary result I can already divulge. My personal experience indicates that single malt whiskies provide an excellent fuel source for the brain while it's working on existential questions like 'what's the meaning of life', 'is there life on other planets' and 'I wonder how many bottles I can balance on my head' . (I found the answer to that last one: none.)
So, why don't you have a dram while you look for wisdom on the rest of this site ?
 
 

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