Scotch Review: The Glenlivet 12

If this is your first Scotch. I feel bad for you...

When you go to a bar, the Scotch they always have (if they have a single malt) is Glenlivet 12. So what is so special about Glenlivet? Its mild and relatively cheap for a single malt, that's why I believe it is popular. The taste and basically the whole drink just isn't that good. It is OK, but forgettable when compared to some very similar drinks like Glenmorangie and THE Macallan.

Color: a very pleasant amber, still very light but a shade darker than some of the lighter Scotch's I have reviewed so far.

Nose: a surprisingly strong smell for a milder scotch, I get that sort of iodine smell with a light caramel wiff

Taste: a very sweet start with that vanilla berry taste but it comes and goes VERY quickly

Balance: A very light not particularly noteworthy dram with a light taste. It doesn't have that smokey taste that makes a scotch a scotch. It is sweet and not very complex but the finish doesn't last, otherwise it would be pretty good.

The cool thing Glenlivet has done is with their marketing. They have positioned themselves into every bar as "the go-to single malt". Their website is great for a very traditional business and they constantly keep followers up to date with newsletters and tastings. They have a cool "print your own label" for gifts. You get to personalize the label and they will mail it to you for free! You then just peel off the sticker and slap it on your bottle, how cool is that? I made custom labels for Fathers Day and my pops loved it. It's the little things that get you ahead.

I give this OK Scotch a 5 of 10, nothing special here. Move on...

Drew Estate's Social Media

I love it when two of my passions collide! Drew Estate is launching a very interactive and personal social media campaign. I have not posted many articles about marketing on my blog recently, but when a cigar company starts some very interesting marketing campaigns, it would be a sin if I didn't! I have always been very interested in this Web 2.0 and social media marketing, and I have always been interested in cigars, so this is perfect!

Their campaign has included Facebook communications, Twitter posts, website news, YouTube videos, and newsletters. It is the textbook definition of a social media campaign. They are not selling me anything, they are just informing me about their unique and great brand/product and providing me with some really cool "insider" information. This is where most companies mess up, they try to sell too hard during a social media campaign. They need to just inform and share with their fans, and then their fans will turn around and share that information to others. This is a great example of word of mouth marketing and social media. Notice my post, a perfect example. There must be thousands of people out there telling their friends about the cool things Drew Estate is up to. Advertising and marketing is changing and I think that it will be moving toward permission based mediums (inbound marketing) like what Drew Estate is using now. I am not 100% sold on the effectiveness of social media but its main principles make a lot o' sense! So for anyone reading this post, take a look at some of the advertising and marketing now a days and tell me what you think. For anyone interested in doing a social media campaign at their company, just check out what Drew is doing!

Here are the links to all that is Drew Estate!

The Drew Estate Facebook Page
Drew Estate YouTube Videos
Jonathon Drew's Twitter
Drew Estate Twitter
The Drew Estate Website

My Drew Estate Cigar Rant

For anyone familiar with Drew Estate Cigars, this is for you. I know a lot of people bash his cigars for being "fake" and girly cigars, but they are truly remarkable. All you traditional smokers should thank him, he is bringing thousands of non-cigar smokers into the industry. Who cares right?! Most people just don't smoke one kind of cigar their whole lives, they like to try others. So by getting people that wouldn't normally smoke cigars into the fold, it is only boosting your favorite companies in the long run. Most Drew Estate smokers end up trying different things anyway. I know I did. Funny thing is, I then developed a taste for a more traditional smoke and moved to the Rocky Patels and CAO. I do really enjoy Drew's traditional lines though, like the Liga Privada 9, Chateau Real, and La Vieja Havana. I will post reviews on those cigars at a later date.

I started with his Acid Line because they just smell amazing! Plus they made cigars look modern and sleek. From the wrapper to the actual Acid logo it just screams new, fast, and hot. Other Cigar brands feature old Spanish names with very bland packaging and wrappers. CAO is a little better but for the most part Acids are a very unique looking cigar.

For the other smokers who say Drew's cigars are fake, think of this. A lemon flavored beer is still a beer, a spiced cigar is still a cigar and once again it is a great way for newbies to start, thus bolstering the whole industry. So enjoy those smokes and keep reading as I will have details on more smokes later! What Drew Estate has done for cigars is amazing, he has changed the way people look at them. It is no longer just an old man's hobby. It is for the young, the old, the middle aged, and even women! He continually pushes the boundaries on cigars and his concoctions are usually great. Plus how he markets those cigars is second to none in the industry. His logo of a sports bike says it all...