Jeannette from Whiskey of the Week…
Hello everyone it is time to meet another local blogger on Confessions of a Blogger! I will be bringing you these interviews every two weeks so please look out for them! Today we meet Jeannette from Whisky of the Week. Truth be told, I am not much of a whisky drinker, much prefer wine but I am always keen to discover new things!
My name is Jeannette, and I am one part of the ‘Whisky of the Week’ blog. Me and my husband, John, blog about our love for whisky and pairing whisky and food. Every Friday afternoon we taste a new whisky and blog about our impressions – hence ‘Whisky of the Week’. We live in Centurion and collect Single Malt whisky from around the world. To date we have collected whisky from 21 different countries. There are more than 40 countries that make whisky, so we still have a bit to go in completing our collection. We have a 4 year old daughter and a busy boxer dog. In addition to whisky, I love clothes, handbags and traveling. Many weekends you will also find all 3 of us out hiking somewhere in Gauteng.
- When did you start your journey as a blogger and why? We started the Whisky of the Week blog during 2013 as a place where we could capture our tasting notes on the interesting whiskies that we tried. We collect whisky from around the world and wanted to capture our journey and learning’s about all the different world whiskies. We also wanted to create a platform where we could interact with other whisky enthusiasts. For me personally, I wanted to add a female voice to what appears to be a male dominated sector. For a lot of people, whisky seems to still be a male drink, but it is actually perfect for woman. It is a more sophisticated drink with many different nuances in the nose and taste.
- Do you blog fulltime or do you have a regular 9-5 as well? The blog was started when I was working full time in a corporate environment. At the end of 2013, I decided to become a full time blogger and a stay at home mom. Now writing, researching and testing whisky food pairings for the blog takes up most all my free time.
- Tell us a little about your space on the interweb and what you blog about? The blog grew out of our shared passion for Single Malt whiskies. For the last 3 years, virtually every Friday afternoon, you find us in our whisky room tasting a whisky. Our small private routine became our blog when we started to capture our tasting notes in a blog format. We also write about our travels to whisky destinations, blog about whisky and cheese pairings and every now and again write a blog about cooking with whisky. During summer we make time to test different kinds of cocktail ideas and sometimes our results are turned into a blog post. For Valentines Day we played around with pink whisky based cocktails and had lots of fun testing a variety of pink cocktail combinations.
- You run a niche blog, what made you decide to pick this topic? Whisky has been our shared passion and we spend a fair amount of time weekly chatting and reading about whisky. It was therefore only natural to start our blog on whisky. It is something that we do as a team, each focusing on our individual strengths. John has an amazing palate, far better than mine and can pick up the whisky notes far better than me. I am getting better at the tasting portion, but my strength lies in being structured. I blog, keep track of all our whiskies, tasting schedules and tasting notes and get to experiment in the kitchen with the whisky food pairings. We have not found many whisky blogs in South Africa and even less South African female whisky bloggers, so this blog allows me a creative space to make whisky more accessible to woman.
- Being a blogger is not always easy – what motivates you and keeps you going? Our Friday routine is something that we do together as a couple and has become a ritual in our house. Because this is integrated with our lifestyle, blogging about it is easy to keep going. We have lots of fun with the whisky as we cook, bake and try different whisky food pairing. Some whisky food pairings work, some don’t, but we always have lots of fun trying them out. We also structure our tasting schedule in advance. This ensures that we keep on tasting new whiskies and don’t repeat whiskies we have tasted before. The feedback that we have received from the whisky community, not only in SA but also around the world, has been instrumental in keeping us motivated.
- What have your biggest blogging challenges been? Because I blog in such a niche space, there was no blogging network where I could naturally fit into. There are a lot of technical aspects to blogging – and these aspects are not easy to learn. Much of the technical aspects I have had to teach myself, and that has been quite difficult.
- What do you love most about being a blogger? We have got to know fellow whisky lovers from not only South Africa but also Europe and America. It has allowed us to learn about new whiskies and countries that make whisky. We have also been able to interact with some amazing whisky brands both locally and internationally.
- If you had to choose a favourite social media platform, what would it be and why? Twitter is the social media platform where we have the most interaction with other whisky enthusiasts. Most of the brands have twitter accounts and we have been able to track down interesting whiskies and get to know great people. Personally for me, Instagram. I love clothes,make up and food and just love looking at the beautiful inspiration that is posted by some very talented SA and international bloggers.
- What has your journey as a blogger taught you {about yourself or in general}? Has it changed your life in any way? Blogging has allowed me to create a space where I can express one of my passions. It has allowed me to explore the more creative side of myself, which got lost after many years in a corporate environment. It made me look at the world around me in a different way. Now I can’t walk past a food shop without wandering in to see if there is any interesting cheese or chocolate for a whisky food pairing.
- If you had to give a newbie blogger any advice, what words of wisdom would you impart? Blog about something that you are passionate about. Blog for yourself and not for anyone else. Stay true to what you are good at. Don’t take blogging and the interweb too seriously. Just have fun.
Thanks Jeannette from Whisky of the Week, for sharing a bit more about your life and blogging journey with us! I have certainly learned a thing or two about whisky by reading your blog! You can find out more about Jeannette from Whisky of the Week and connect with her here:
Blog link: http://whiskyoftheweek.co.uk/
Twitter: @whiskyoftheweek
Instagram: Jeannette_Wentzel
If you would like to be featured on Confessions of a Blogger or would like to see a blogger featured here, then please email Fiona or leave a comment below.
I love their story. 🙂