New online local whisky club steeped in 'history and tradition'

Raymond Martinelli is what one might call a whisky connoisseur.

The Barrie man has enjoyed sharing his love for the drink —  and its history — with others for more than a decade by co-ordinating numerous tastings around the city, but when the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to in-person events, he looked to the internet to keep people engaged.

In 2021, Martinelli launched the Academy of Single Malt Whisky Explorers, an online “social club for exploring the world of whisk(e)y,” which provided those who loved whisky — and individuals who were curious about it — the chance to participate in virtual tastings.

The first event was held in May 2021. Participants were provided with a tasting box, which included custom-designed tasting samples from various distilleries, as well as a variety of items from local businesses.

“It was important for me that we gave back to those struggling through the pandemic,” Martinelli told BarrieToday.

In addition to supporting local businesses during the pandemic by including their items in the “dram packs,” Martinelli said he felt it was important to support the Barrie Food Bank, and dedicated a portion of the proceeds to the organization, with the remainder being used to continue to build the club.

Since the first event in 2021, Martinelli said the club — which now boasts about 1,000 followers on social media and typically welcomes upward of 100 guests at its in-person events — has raised $12,200 for the food bank.

“It’s not just a nice thing to do; it’s the right thing to do. We sit down in front of six whiskies and a beautiful meal … It amounts to hundreds of dollars …  and there are people that go hungry. I have a passion for helping others as much as I do for whisky,” he said.

The club, he noted, is open to “anybody and everybody” who wants to come out and learn about, understand and appreciate premium whisky.

“Whether you’re a novice and just curious or whether you’re an aficionado, whisky is for sharing and the stories. That’s where a lot of my passion comes from,” he said, adding the social aspect that comes with enjoying whisky is part of its draw.

“There is a lot of history and a lot of tradition. I find when I do tastings, people ask questions like crazy. They are curious, and that curiosity just evolves into wanting to understand more and try different things. I guess there’s a bit of mystique in it as well.”

In addition to the camaraderie, the idea behind the club is to help people find what they like, without having to break the bank.

“You come out to an event … you can get to understand the different flavour profiles. Chances are you come away with liking at least one that you will invest in. That’s another one of the attractions, is that people get to try things — and get to try things they may never get to try again,” he said.

Martinelli was first introduced to whisky through his daughter-in-law’s family 13 years ago.

“Her family is East Indian. We’d go and visit and it would encompass a big meal. Before the meal, there’d be a big bottle of whisky on the coffee table and the men sat around trying to solve the problems of the world. Up until then, I was pretty much a beer drinker, but sitting there, sipping on whisky, talking and listening to stories was pretty cool,” he said.

After later attending a whisky tasting, Martinelli admitted he was hooked, not just on the drink but on the stories and the fellowship that came with it. Since that first sip, Martinelli has become a bit of a whisky expert, having toured numerous distilleries in Scotland, and turning the basement of his north Barrie home into what many would consider to be whisky lover’s paradise, boasting more than 225 “different expressions” lining the walls and bar.

For those who are not up to date on Whisky 101, the drink is distilled grain aged in wood. 

“That’s it, but there are over 140 distilleries in Scotland. There are over 40 distilleries in Ireland … and there are distilleries in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia … and each of them takes that simple recipe and does something quite unique with it, just like a baker or a chef,” Martinelli said.

Single-malt Scotch whisky, he noted, means it came from only one distillery.

“Everything in a bottle is from one distillery. If it says ‘blended scotch whisky,’ then it’s from two or more distilleries. And malt is 100 per cent barley,” he said.

As for those who find the whole thing a tad confusing and wonder what the difference is between Scotch and whisky, the answer is simple, he said: “Scotch is whisky from Scotland.”

Whisky can also be spelled differently, he noted, adding the Irish and Americans spell it  ‘whiskey’ while in Canada and several other countries, it is ‘whisky.’

“The Irish thought they were making damn fine whiskey … and they wanted to distinguish theirs ... so they put the ‘e’ in.”

When asked what his favourite is, Martinelli was hard-pressed to pick, noting it depends on what he happens to be doing or feeling at the moment, what he is about to eat, who he is with and even the time and season of the year.

“It is kind of like deciding what clothes to wear to keep warm, stay cool, dress up or be casual,” he said. “There are so many options and flavour profiles to gravitate to in deciding what whisky to enjoy and suit a particular mood or occasion.”