Last updated: September 27, 2026
Dram Verdict is an independent whisky review website operated from Japan. This Privacy Policy explains what information is processed when you visit or contact the site.
The short version: Dram Verdict collects very little. There is no advertising here, personal information is not sold or shared with third parties for their own marketing, and the only measurement running is Google Analytics — and only once a visitor has agreed to it.
What the site collects directly
Nothing, unless you send it. Browsing Dram Verdict does not require an account and does not ask you for anything.
If you use the contact form, the name, email address, subject and message you enter are sent by email so that Dram Verdict can reply. They are used for that purpose and nothing else. They are not sold, shared with third parties for their own marketing, or added to a mailing list. The form does not store your message in this site’s database — it passes straight to email.
If you leave a comment, see the Comments section below.
Server logs
Like almost every website, the server that hosts Dram Verdict records requests it receives — typically the IP address, the time, the page requested and the browser’s user agent. These logs are created and kept by the hosting provider as part of running and securing the service. They are not used to build a profile of individual visitors.
Analytics
Dram Verdict uses Google Analytics 4 to understand how the site is used: which pages people land on, how they move through the site, roughly where in the world they are, and what kind of device they are on.
Dram Verdict does not configure Google Analytics to collect your name or email address, and does not use Analytics to identify individual readers. IP addresses are handled by Google as part of the service and are not stored by this site directly. What Google does with the data it collects is governed by Google’s own privacy policy.
Google Analytics does not load until you actively accept the Statistics category through the cookie banner. Until then, the tracking script stays inactive. See the Cookie Policy for exactly how that consent works and how to change your choice at any time.
Dram Verdict also uses Google Search Console, which is a different thing. It reports how Dram Verdict appears in Google search results — which queries show the site, how often it is clicked, and whether Google has trouble indexing a page. Search Console does not run any code on this site and does not collect information about individual visitors. It reports on Google’s own search data.
Cookies
This site uses a small number of cookies, described in full on the Cookie Policy — including which are strictly necessary, which require consent, and how to change that choice at any time. In short: there are no advertising cookies on this site, and analytics cookies are only set once a visitor agrees to them.
If you follow an affiliate link to a retailer, that retailer may set its own cookies on their own site. That happens under their policy, not this one — see the Affiliate Disclosure.
Third-party content
Avatar images — next to the author byline and next to comments — are loaded from Gravatar, a service run by Automattic. When your browser loads one, it makes a request to Gravatar’s servers, which means your IP address and browser information reach them. If you leave a comment, a hashed version of your email address is included in that request so Gravatar can look for a matching image. Automattic’s own privacy policy governs what they do with it.
Apart from Google Analytics and Gravatar, there is no other embedded third-party content on the site — no ad scripts, no social widgets, no embedded video.
Links to other sites
Dram Verdict links out to distilleries, retailers and other publications, and some of those links are affiliate links. Once you follow a link, you are on someone else’s site under someone else’s privacy policy — Dram Verdict has no control over what they collect.
Affiliate links — mainly the “Check Current Price” buttons in Where to Buy sections — are run through the Awin affiliate network. When you click one, your browser passes briefly through Awin’s tracking link before reaching the retailer. Awin and the retailer may use cookies or similar technologies, together with a click identifier, to record that the visit came from Dram Verdict and whether it led to a purchase, so that a commission can be paid. That happens on their services and under their own privacy policies. Dram Verdict does not place affiliate tracking cookies on this site and does not receive your payment details.
Comments
Comments are open, and every comment is read before it appears. When you leave one, the name and email address you enter are stored with it in this site’s database, along with your IP address and browser user agent — this is how WordPress works, and it is how spam is filtered. Your email address is not published.
If the email address you use has a Gravatar account, your avatar image is shown next to your comment (see above).
To have a comment removed, ask through the Contact page.
Newsletter
There is no newsletter at the moment. If one is introduced, this page will be updated to say which service handles it and what happens to your email address.
Children
Dram Verdict is about whisky and is not intended for anyone under the legal drinking age in their country.
International processing
This site is operated from Japan. Where a service used here — such as Google Analytics — processes information outside your own country, that processing is governed by that provider’s own safeguards and privacy policy, linked above.
How long information is kept
Contact form emails are kept only for as long as reasonably necessary to respond, maintain a record of the correspondence, or meet applicable legal or security needs. Comments remain visible until removed, edited or deleted as part of normal site moderation. Server and analytics data is retained according to the relevant provider’s own configuration and policies, not a fixed period set by this site.
Your rights
Dram Verdict does not currently sell personal information or share it with third parties for their own marketing or cross-context behavioral advertising. Depending on the law that applies to you, you may have additional rights over the personal information described on this page — for example, the right to know what is held about you, to correct it, or to have it deleted. Given how little this site collects, the honest answer is usually that nothing is held beyond an email that was sent in or a comment that was left. Either way, ask through the Contact page and Dram Verdict will confirm what is held and act on a deletion request.
If you need additional information about the operator of Dram Verdict for a request under applicable Japanese privacy law, please use the Contact page. Information required by law will be provided in accordance with applicable requirements.
Changes to this page
This policy will be updated when the site changes — particularly if a newsletter is added, if the analytics setup changes, or if new third-party services are introduced. The date at the top shows when it last changed.
Contact
Questions about this policy can be sent through the Contact page.