How to start a whisky society

based on the long-running KGVMWS model

On the first Monday of each month, I hop on a train headed London way with a bottle of whisky in my bag.

In that bag is also my official society tie, which I eventually pull over my head and allow to drape over my dress.

(Society member John B. tied it with a double Windsor a couple of years ago, so throwing it on is easy, even if it looks a bit funny without a shirt and collar…but what’s a girl to do when ties are required and she’s the first and only woman ever to be made a member of the society?)

Once at the venue, I’ll call the meeting to order with my wooden gavel, we’ll taste two bottles blindly, we’ll discuss society matters, and we’ll slowly fade into jovial mischief before I’ll be able to get everyone’s attention long enough to officially call the meeting to a close.

But that’s tomorrow.

Today, as I prepare for that meeting, I’m in a mood to encourage others to start a whisky society.

My society, the King George V Malt Whisky Society, has been around for ages, and it’s had the same home since its first meeting: a 16th-century pub tucked away in a quiet corner on a not-at-all-busy street.

It’s an invitation-only society, sending invites to one or two people only once a year. We currently have 13 active members and a small handful of country members—lads who show up on occasion, but no longer have voting rights.

Until about a year ago, there were only two of us under the age of 50, and the majority of members of retired guys in their 70s. When I joined in 2022, I was the second millennial…and we are now 5 of the 12.

But you’re not here to learn the intimate details of KGVMWS. So let’s just use it as a model for starting for your own.

Below, I’ll share with a rough outline, some (maybe) sound advise, and hope that you’ll run with it.