Another first! After Monday’s book review, I decided yesterday to do a magazine review as well. This is about a Dutch magazine, so it might be slightly less interesting to foreign readers, but I just had to get this off my chest… (which might indicate a not so positive review).

About a year and a half ago I was reading the newest episode of Whisky Etc. on the couch and thought it was quite annoying that I had no guaranteed delivery of the magazine anymore. My favorite whisky shop got into a bit of a quarrel with them and decided to stop selling it, which meant I had to start looking around for it, or I could get a subscription. There was a discount that month, which meant I chose the latter.

With the quarterly delivery of the newest edition of the magazine I always was happy to get something whisky related in the mailbox and I still have that joy when it arrives. Then I start reading it.

It is a small Dutch magazine, not even the biggest in the country and most of the advertising is for one chain liquorshop, where not many whisky enthousiasts I know go for their supply.

Since it is a specialist magazine like WhiskyMag and Malt Advocate, it uses freelance writers to get articles for each magazine. Nothing wrong with that, but what annoys me more and more everytime I read it, is that they state “Whisky Etc. was invited to <enter random event>”. They weren’t. A writer was and they decided to buy an article.

This not only happens with such events, but according to Whisky Etc., all writers that supply them with articles are employees. Not a correspondent, not an editor, but an employee. For some reason this ticks me off every time.

Tonight, while reinstalling my laptop I was reading through the latest edition, and before I got to page 10 I found AT LEAST 10 errors in spelling, grammar or data. Minor things in wrong verbs or punctuation, but also words missing from sentences and talk about the “Bush Mills” distillery. Come on guys, this is a whisky magazine. Please proof read and the least you could do is check the names of distilleries.

There is also a quarterly piece about newly released stuff that is not a whisky. This time limited to ‘new’ whisky books, and that Islay DVD with the bad voice over. Normally, however, this column also includes watches, shoes and golf supplies. For some reason I can’t wrap my head around the fact that people like you or me, who spend most of their hard earned cash on the newest release of distillery X, want to know about a new 10,000 euro Rolex of some funky golf shoe that leaves smaller holes on the green…

So, I decided tonight to unsubscribe from this magazine and stop buying it all together. There are four other magazines I read to much more satisfaction that this one: Whisky Magazine, Malt Advocate, Whisky Passion and De Kiln, our terrific club magazine. Saves me another two tenners to spend on drams!

Two stars, since the articles themselves aren’t that bad and they have some good columns. Its just bad proof reading, a bit too much arrogance, and misplaced content.