Why do we do it.. Well today I had a little chuckle to myself over an incident. Some people seem to have this thought process that all bloggers just get loads of free stuff and win all the competitions just so the whisky company’s can get some free and positive publicity. Now I am not saying this is not true but I can only give my side of the story, I am quite new to the blogging side of things, my site is totally independent of sponsors, I blog alone and all content written by me is down to my own thought process. I know some of the bigger blogs that have been going for some time do recieve lots of samples in order to review, most of these are reviewed with total honesty, some may have a slight influence and yes I am sure some will be written in Order to carry on receiving more samples, ( or sponsorship for the site they run) this though will be quite rare. Yes I do receive some samples and I have been very grateful, but it has not influenced my thoughts, why should it ! Most of us bloggers do it because we love to tell others about what we have tried, we love to drink whisky ( and whatever else we can try) this is not a crime and this does not mean we are for sale, some people think if given a sample for review this means you have to give a positive review, only those that are weak minded or unscrupulous would go down that route.. Most whisky is good, plenty is great but there really is not too much out there that is bad, this is why you don’t get many bad comments ! So when you next read one of the reviews from a blogger just remember it is our opinion, it is not gospel, it does not mean rush out there and buy it nor does it mean its crap if we don’t like it.. It is just an opinion, also if a blogger happens to win a competition it is not fixed, everyone has the right to enter and everyone has the same chance of winning.. Most bloggers put a tremendous amount of time into their blogs, most people do not realise just what it takes to run a successful blog, my little corner takes a good few hours a week so when you look at the bigger blogs this is almost a life choice. These guys and girls( yes there are some fantastic blogs out there run by women ) live, breath and dream whisky so next time they review or win something don’t give them a hard time.. They deserve it as much as anyone else..
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ocdwhisky.com 
A interesting topic in which I think your comments are very appropriate and should be expected to be what all are thinking.
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I can’t help but agree with you on the subject matter, anyone who puts out a review that is not honest and gives me an idea that average whisky is great so I will buy it just so they can keep receiving free samples are scum in my mind. Sorry if that offends people.
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Wow because this is extremely goodexcellent job! Congrats and keep it up
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I enjoy the knowledge on your web site. Thanks a bunch!.
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like sorren said, many people do swop samples and review them, you might be getting confused with this.
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Fair enough, i never thought about the exchange between people.
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Jamie.
I understand what you are saying but these blogs are probably the ones that have been around for a long time and have a big following so deserve the opertunity to recieve free samples. Smaller blogs like mine and probably most of the ones out there are still self financed, we put a lot of time and effort into the blogs we run and a great amount of money too. Also you have to remember a lot of samples are swopped between bloggers so in theory these are not free but you might read it as they are ! ..
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Sorren. I must admit that when i read a lot of blogs at the end it usually says a thank you to some company or other for the sample, so how can you say most will not get free stuff ? I know not all bloggers get lots of free stuff but i bet you all get a fair amount or why would you do it.
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Bravo. I do know a couple of people who blog about things and I know they say it takes up a lot of time, and they don’t get the freebies people think they do.
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Well said!
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I would agree with you Reid. I still find it useful to look through many blogs and whisky forums. Like you say many people find it useful to check reviews before buying, you do have to be careful and make sure you find a blogger that you agree with. Everyone has different tastes as you know.. My real point was just to highlight that bloggers are still human..
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Thoughtful post… I personally have never received anything, man would I love that!
Reading blogs helped me to better understand whisky when I was just getting into it and I still enjoy reading other people’s thoughts about different drams. I think whisky blogs have really become a way for us to compare tasting notes, as much as anything. Now that I feel I have something to offer, I blog because I hope someone will find my views interesting and maybe even useful/informative just as I did.
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I didn’t think it would take that much of my spare time up, now my main job has got busy all of a sudden I’ve got a back log of posts I need to finish and don’t know where the time is coming from to do it. So it looks like I’ve got a lot of early mornings (main job) and late nights with the blog but that’s what we choose. So I don’t see why anyone should get crap for the effort that is put into their blog even if they do get the odd freebies.
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Thank you .. I really did not appreciate the time that goes into a blog until I started mine. The costs are massive, not just in money but time and everything else we have to give up or do in order to try be successful.
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Well said!
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