‘This is our Me Too movement’ –Becky Paskin on sexism and Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible
Former Scotchwhisky.com editor Becky Paskin discusses sexism in the whisky industry with Rosalind Erskine
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible, a controversial but highly anticipated guide, often does not feature Scottish whiskies in its top ten, leading to many comments on social media. But the sexually explicit nature of some of the remarks aren’t often pointed out, until recently. The latest guide once again had no Scottish whiskies in its top three, with a Canadian rye whisky taking the top spot.
It was Murray’s comments on this whisky, plus a number of others, that lead Our Whisky founder Becky Paskin to tweet a thread of the most controversial aspects of the guide, which compares whisky to sex and seducing women. In her tweets, Becky wrote: “This post will no doubt attract some hate comments, but something needs to be said. Why does the whisky industry still hold Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible in such high regard when his tasting notes are so sexist and vulgar? In the 2020 edition there are 34 references to whisky being ‘sexy’ and many more crudely comparing drinking whisky to having sex with women.
Wpenderyn is made by an allfemale team of distillers and blenders, yet this is how he refers to their whisky: ‘If this was a woman, I’d want to make love to it every night.
And in the morning. And afternoon, if I could find the time... and energy...” (Penderyn Celt)
“Murray refers to Canadian Club Chronicles, Water of Windsor as: ‘Have I had this much fun with a sexy 41-year-old Canadian before? Well, yes I have. But it was a few years back now and it wasn’t a whisky. Was the fun we had better? Probably not.’ The list goes on, with Murray referring to maltiness as how a ‘sex addict revels in a threesome’ and ‘If whisky could be sexed, this would be a woman.’” Becky concludes: “Despite sexually explicit language being a mainstay of Murray’s reviews, his ‘bible’ is still held in high regard by brands and whisky lovers.”
Speaking of her posts, Becky said: “I think brands are appalled by what they’ve seen, and it’s not some - thing that they stand for. The whole industry has been striving towards gender diversity – not just Scotch, but the whole industry – striving towards gender and race diversity and equality for so long. When this was brought to their attention, the immediate reaction is ‘we can’t support that.’ I think that’s why (the focus on this) has come about now, because no one really noticed and I completely sympathise.”
Becky says she would like to see this discussion around sexism in the whisky industry continue,. “This is a discussion around stamping out sexism in whiskey. And I think the reason why this has blown up as as big as it has, is because so many people have now come out with their own stories, and identified with some of the things that have been said. This is whisky’s me too movement. This is our moment, and it’s our time’s up movement, as well. The stories coming out of women being harassed through to occasional unconscious bias, with remarks such as ‘do you even like whisky?’
“We’ve been talking about this for years, but it’s never really been taken seriously. And no one’s really said or done anything to stop it. There are brand values within companies, which say that they that they don’t condone sexist behaviour. But then again, what frameworks are in place to stop this?”
A former national newspaper journalist, Mr Murray has said: “Whisky deals with sensuality, so, therefore for some whiskies I may refer to sex, because that is what the whisky may remind me of. If it does, then I say so,” he said. “If people can’t handle that, then fine. Don’t buy the Whisky Bible. If I’m upsetting the woke, the intolerant, the humourless, the pompous and the whisky snobs, then I’ll lose no sleep over that.”