Over the last months the amount of new posts here on MaltFascination have slowed down to a trickle. Initially this was because I was spending my free time on selling Magic: the Gathering cards on CardMarket. Trying to have my own little take on a Local Game Store and with that, trying to have some positive cash flow from at least one of my hobbies.

After slightly more than a year, increasing my collection (the for-sale-part) from a few hundred cards to over 42,000, and sending out over 4000 envelopes, it started taking way too much time while still not having a net positive cash flow. So, I stopped doing that and sold off the bulk of my collection in one fell swoop.

The amount of free time that gave me was significant and I really like that. This made me reevaluate other things too. I’ve been contemplating quitting the blog for a while. I’ve been far less invested in the whisky world for some time, and I feel like I’ve been more or less priced out of the more interesting drams.

Also, over the last year or so, what I have find more interesting than properly investigating a dram and writing tasting notes, I’ve derived more pleasure in just enjoying a dram every now and then. This also takes a lot of pressure away from having to consistently try new things and allows me to occasionally buy a bottle just for myself, without having to share it to get some cash back to buy the next bottle a few days later.

Initially, I was planning to occasionally blog about things I got from bottlers or distilleries, to write about some amazing things I found on my wanderings and keep going at a much slower pace than that. However, when I get a sample from someone for reviewing purposes, that would add expectations and that is something I don’t really enjoy anymore.

Concluding, this means I’m shutting down MaltFascination. The blog isn’t going anywhere, but I’m not planning on writing more posts. 2,582 entries seems enough. Far more reviews than that too. It’s been a very enjoyable ride so, as the title suggests: Thanks for everything. For reading my ramblings, sending samples, enabling me, and everything else. 

It’s time to enjoy things from the passenger’s seat.