Do you have any questions? If they are 'general' questions about malt whisky, it
would probably be better to check out the Malt Madness site - and particularly
the Beginner's Guide to single malt whisk(e)y. On this page I'll try to answer
a few hypothetical questions about the Malt Maniacs collective. However,
keep in mind that this archive only covers the period from 1997 to 2011.
If you have 'current' questions, please check out the new MM website...
 
Here we answer questions like What is and/or are the 'Malt Maniacs'?
(an introduction to our whisky collective and the scope of our mission),
Why do we do what we do? (thoughts about the 'mission statement'
of the certified malt maniacs), Who are the members of malt maniacs?
(credentials of the certified malt maniacs & some 'foreign correspondents'),
and Where are the maniacs located? (which parts of the world have been
'colonised' by the certified malt maniacs?). If you have any other questions,
you'll probably have better luck on the aforementioned Malt Madness site,
or the brand new malt maniacs website on www.maltmaniacs.net.

What is and/or are the 'Malt Maniacs'?

Malt Maniacs is the name for both this website and an international collective of independent
malt whisky aficionados. This 'collective' (an on-line community with some 'deluxe' features)
developed on the World Wide Web around Malt Madness - a website that founder Johannes van
den Heuvel launched in 1995. As the internet developed, more and more visitors of Malt Madness
site started posting their comments for the enjoyment and education of other whisky lovers and
the international 'Malt Maniacs' community gradually evolved from there. When we had grown to
12 members in 2002 we launched our own E-zine and some novel features like the MMMatrix
(our scores for thousands of different single malt whiskies). 

You can find out more about the members of our collective (by the end of 2011) on the 'members' page while
the Malt Maniacs Manifesto provides some background information about some of our ideals & principles.
Don't mistake us for idealists just because we have ideals though; we simply like to drink...

Why we do the maniacs do what they do?

Why do we spend so much of our free time on whisky?
Because we're passionate about one of the few remaining 'authentic' products in the
world. With the malt whisky world growing ever more corporate, that authenticity is
under constant threat. It's ironic that passionate amateurs like the maniacs are
sometimes more concerned with the authenticity of the product than the industry
itself. An interesting example is the 'fakes' issue. Where industry organisations like
the SWA (Scotch Whisky Association) and 'Keepers of the Quaich' were and are quite
happy to ignore the problem of the many fake 'antique' bottlings flooding the market,
the maniacs and a few other independent enthusiasts tried to do their part in solving
the problem.
 
Unlike the people working in the industry or the whisky trade, most maniacs don't
MAKE any money from whisky. In fact, the website still COSTS us money - and the
ever growing costs of traffic to our website(s) started to exceed the relatively limited
means of founder Johannes van den Heuvel some time ago. When he came up with
the sensible suggestion to allow a few selected advertisers on the website or use
something like 'Google Ads' the maniacs voted to all pay a modest 'membership fee'
instead. You can read more about our principles in the Malt Maniacs Manifesto.

And why don't we have an 'open forum' like the Vox Populi section anymore?
Well, we gradually learned that not everybody that posts messages on forums
does so for the right reasons. Some people are simply in love with the sound of their
own virtual voice while others might have hidden 'commercial' motives. That's why
we closed the open forum in 2001 and keep a watchful and skeptical eye on the
E-pistles that are submitted.
 

When can we expect another update?

Do you want to know when the next issue of Malt Maniacs will be published?
Just join the 'mixed messages' mailinglist and you'll be informed by e-mail when the next issue is published.
We generally try to get together one fresh issue by the first of each month, but sometimes we publish 'sneak previews' and 'special editions' for the members of the mailinglist as well. On this page you can find a few nuggets of sound advice to help you travel safely through the whisky world as well as this website. We wouldn't want you to injure yourself while browsing the MM website.

When it comes to events like whisky festivals you can check out the World Wide Whisky Events page.
It is mainained by Konstantin Grigoriadis from Greece. Drop him a message if you think you know of an event that's worthy of inclusion in the list - you can find his address at the bottom of the WWWE page.
 

Let's see, what else?
Ah, yes... The bug on the old site with overlapping text on some browsers has now been solved. However, the 'price' is some empty room at the bottom of many pages. Ah well, I guess you could use that extra space to scribble notes on...

Do you have any other questions?
If they're questions about single malt whisky, it would be best to check out the Beginner's Guide on Malt Madness.
Information, opinions and tips about whisky is the only sort of guidance that you can expect on these pages, I'm afraid. We can't offer much in the area of fundamental questions like 'why are we here?' and other heavy stuff - you'll have to figure out all that for yourself...
 

Who were the people behind this website?

Well, that would be me - 'Editor in Chief' Johannes van den Heuvel - together with lots of other 'malt maniacs'.
Some of those malt maniacs are content with submitting the occasional E-pistle while others play a more active
and editorial role. First and foremost, there's Frenchman Serge Valentin who is in control of the WhiskyFun
website. Fellow Frenchman Olivier Humbrecht who handled the logistics for the Malt Maniacs Awards from his
vinyard in France each year deserves a special mention too.
 
That goes the three professional whisky writers on the team as well; Charles MacLean, Dave Broom and
 Martine Nouet. You can find an overview of the other team members on the 'locals' page of this website...
The 'Personal Profiles' of most of these maniacs can be found in the ADHD section for now.
Fresh profiles will be integrated with the new site as soon as possible. 

Where are the malt maniacs located?

This section (designed to help you find your way around the website) will take shape at some point in the future.We may work on our plans for a 'whisky layer' for Google Earth or try to combine 'MaltMaps' with our database. Join the 'Mixed Messages' mailinglist (see address below) if you want to stay updated on the developments. The 'where' question could also apply to 'where to find certain information.
Please bear with me while I try to finish the structure of this website. Once I'm done I can get to work on the sitemap.