Julio's Liquors launches website dedicated to whiskey
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Gathered at Julio's Liquors are (l to r) Martin Daraz, Highland Park Brand Ambassador; Ryan Maloney, Owner of Julio's Liquors; Anne Hollister Bulleit, Bulliet Brand Ambassador; Jeremy Bell, Glenlivet & Chivas Brand Ambassador; and Brad Jarvis, Diageo Master of Whisky. PHOTO/SUBMITTED

Westborough - That old line about necessity being the mother of invention has reared its head. Ryan Maloney, owner of Julio's Liquors, located in the Westborough Shopping Center at the corner of Route 9 and Lyman Street, recently launched www.lochandkey.com, a website completely dedicated to discussion of and information about whiskey.

"I got the idea because there are a lot of small groups of guys who come into the store and buy different bourbon whiskeys and single malt scotch whiskies and try them out among themselves," Maloney said. "I stopped and counted one day and the total number of guys in these groups is about 100, and I thought it would be great to find a way to bring them all together so they could discuss their findings between themselves."

Visitors to the site are invited to join the Loch & K(e)y Society.

"We put a parenthesis around the 'e' because the Scots spell the word whisky - without the 'e,' while everyone else spells it whiskey with the 'e,'" Maloney said. "If you put a parenthesis around the 'e' it means you're talking about all whiskeys, not just Scotch whiskies."

The website includes discussion forums and posting boards so people can share recipes and review and discuss diff erent bourbons and whiskeys they've tried.

Maloney said the response to the website, which was created about a month ago, has been good, with 50 people having already become members.

The Loch & K(e)y Society will host its first dinner, "Bourbon, Beer and Beef" at 7 p.m. Monday June 23 at Worcester's 111 Chop House. Included in the dinner, which is $100 for society members and $110 for non-members and has a limited number of spots available, will be the opportunity to sample a quarter-ounce of three Buffalo Trace Experimental Bourbons - French Oak, Twice Barreled and Fire Pot Barrel - a sampling of the sold-out Scotch Ale, created for Julio's by Berkshire Brewing Co., and the presence of special guest Harlen Wheatley, master distiller for Buff alo Trace.

Maloney said members who post online will earn points for doing so, and those points can then be redeemed in the Loch & K(e)y online store.

"A whiskey recipe or whiskey, bourbon or smoke reviews will earn a member five bonus points, while responding to someone else's review will earn you two bonus points," Maloney said. "Then, when you get enough points you can go into the Loch & K(e)y store and redeem them. A Loch & K(e)y whiskey glass is 25 points, a Loch & K(e)y T-shirt is 75 points."