One essential part of the whiskey infrastructure we have been missing in Ireland to date is a Whiskey Club. For those of us with modest means a club is the best way of sampling a wide range of fine whiskeys as well as exchanging knowledge with fellow enthusiasts.

Michael Foggarty, of the Celtic Whiskey Shop, hopes to fill this gap. He proposes a meeting in Bowes pub on Fleet Street (one of my favourite spots, with a good whiskey selection) in January to hammer out the details.

If you are in Ireland and like the sound of becoming a founding member of a new Whiskey Club, could you drop Michael a line (michaelfoggarty_AT_hotmail.com) so he can gauge the level of interest? Perhaps you could mention too if you are in Dublin and available for that meeting in January.