The popular whiskey blogger Sku’s Recent Eats retired from blogging after 10 years. He’s hinted at it before, but in his final post Sku (Steve Ury) said: “I’ve said pretty much all I have to say about food and drink. I’ll continue to Tweet my spirituous thoughts, talk brandy on the Serious Brandy Facebook page, score whiskeys at the LA Whisk(e)y Society and post my silly food pictures on Instagram, but this will be my last blog post.”

Sku meant much to the whiskey community for his funny and often brave banter. He tackled issues important to the Whiskey Geek community and became everybody’s favorite blogger in the process. His personal favorite blog posts include commentary that the Golden Age of Whiskey is Over, TTB Changing the Rules and Fetishizing Whiskey,   among others. My favorite was his comparison of the cottage cheese industry to whiskey in How Whiskey Geeks Appear to Outsiders.

Never afraid to call it like he sees it, Ury set the Whiskey Geek voice, using satire and in-depth analysis to somehow make us realize that this is only whiskey, while, at the same time, establishing the category’s importance to us as consumers. More so than any other blogger, Sku made it clear consumers genuinely do not like dishonesty or marketing spin.

Sku’s popularity put him on the national stage multiple times, including an appearance on NPR’s All Things Considered and the New York Times.

The loss of Sku will be felt on the whiskey shelves. His powerful voice was a deterrence for marketing stupidity, and nobody can duplicate what he’s done.

Although many may attempt his style, there’s only one Steve Ury, aka Sku’s Recent Eats, and his voice will be missed. Thanks for the memories, Sku.