Open Letter to the Whisky Community

[Johanna .]

As most of you are aware, whisky writer Michael Jackson announced before
Christmas that he has been dealing with Parkinson’s Disease for the better
part of a decade. While this is challenging enough in and of itself, it is
distressing that the symptoms of his condition were mistaken by the gossip
mill to be the effects of intoxication. It takes years of hard work to
build a professional reputation of Michael Jackson’s stature and such
misinformation can only serve to damage a livelihood in this industry.

Michael Jackson openly displayed visible symptoms of Parkinson’s during a
recent interview with Singlemalt.tv , an act that takes courage and
character in my personal opinion. Watching him speak I became emotional
but was also in admiration of the dignified manner in which he carried
himself in spite of this obvious challenge.

He spoke about his first experience with whisky which in turn brought me
back to my first visit to a whisky shop in Montreal. It was an aimless,
bewildered wandering until I came across a copy of the ‘Malt Whisky
Companion’ that provided me with written guidance, in plain language, to
the Babel of bottles displayed before me. Looking back I realize that this
book was actually my portal into the unique and idiosyncratic world of
whisky, and its assorted cast of characters among the trade and
enthusiasts who populate this decent and personable community.  Like the
author himself, the ‘Malt Whisky Companion’ is unassuming, unpretentious
and a reflection of what makes the Scotch whisky trade special, and I am
grateful to have had this book and its author as my original mentor on the
subject.

With all the above in mind, I was not content to simply feel pity and pour
a dram so I made contact with both Michael Jackson and the Parkinson
Society Canada. The result of these communications is that Charles and I
are organizing Canada’s first whisky auction to be held by silent bidding
at this year’s Spirit of Toronto Whisky Gala on Saturday, May 12. Our goal
is to gather a collection of 24 bottles of whisky with all proceeds being
donated to the Parkinson Society Canada on behalf of Michael Jackson.

The intention here is not to find a cure with one fundraising event but
rather to collectively show appreciation and support of an individual
whose work has cultivated a worldwide renaissance of whisky enthusiasm and
self-styled connoisseurship. I appeal to you as a member of the whisky
community to please contact me if you have a bottle of whisky that you
don’t mind putting to a different sort of “good use”, but rest assured
that I will be brazen enough to be contacting many of you personally!


Best regards,
Johanna Ngoh
singleminded at magma.ca

Single Minded, A Single Malt Whisky Journal
http://www.singleminded.ca

Spirit of Toronto 2007
Toronto’s Annual Whisky Gala
http://www.spiritoftoronto.ca

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