The beautiful thing about whisky is that it’s made for sharing. It has this magical ability to bring people together, whether it’s through a toast, a shared bottle among friends or within the colourful stories that are woven through the fabric of whisky’s long history.

One of the aims of Scotchwhisky.com has been to bring more whisky lovers into the fold by sharing some of these stories, through in-depth features, interviews with the people behind this wonderful spirit, and the latest news.

But, despite the many highs and lows, this is by far the hardest news we’ve had to deliver.

It’s with heavy hearts and much sadness that we announce the imminent closure of Scotchwhisky.com.

From an idea that began to take shape in early 2012, and especially since the site’s inception four years ago, our mission has been to become the ultimate source of information and news about whisky, and to inspire more people around the world to learn about and enjoy it in all its rich diversity. We are very proud to have achieved that goal, becoming the number one Scotch whisky magazine online in the world, with 2.5 million users.

The fact is that, no matter how great the site is – and all of us are immensely proud of what we have achieved – and despite the huge efforts of the people involved in every aspect of its running, from its backers to the backroom staff and designers, to all our wonderful writers, it became clear that this model simply was not financially sustainable.

Another home will be found for the many thousands of pages of content from Scotchwhisky.com, and for new and updated coverage of the world of whisky. This compelling story will continue to be told, but not here.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the site, and most of all our loyal readers, who have kept us on our toes and driven our ambition to improve day after day.

Just like the liquid it’s devoted to, we hope that Scotchwhisky.com, in its all too brief life, has gone some way towards bringing more of you together too. We hope to share a whisky with you all some day soon.

Becky Paskin, editor

Dave Broom, contributing editor

Richard Woodard, contributing editor