I’m not one to get excited about advertisements, but I have been noting the increasing interest that the liquor industry is demonstrating in travel with more than a little fascination.

First, it was Bombay Sapphire’s travel blog contest , complete with a snazzy website designed to appeal to members of the hip young jetset who also happen to document their travels in writing.

Now, it’s Chivas Regal’s ThisIsTheLife.com, a website which would be just another well-designed, visually appealing, quality content-oriented travel site if it didn’t have that tiny little tag in the top left of your screen that says “Sponsored by Chivas Regal.”

But clever advertising aside, This Is The Life is actually a smart, attractive, highly navigable site for “people who want to get the most out of life.” The purpose?

…to replace the time invested ploughing through countless City guides, travel books and magazines with a singular world wide web forum where the earth’s best experiences could be raised and reviewed, not just by an editor and his team (although we do have very good ones), but by everyone.

You can look up other users’ top experiences by continent or by type of experience– from adrenaline thrills and best views to voluntourism travel and best places to propose. And you can share your own top experiences if you sign up for a free account.

For being a website designed and sponsored by a major liquor company, the site is refreshingly free of advertisements of all sorts, even subtle ones. Even under the World’s Best Bars, there’s no flashing ad or obvious pandering for the user to buy Chivas products. Believe it or not, this is a great website to add to your list of must-visits for planning trips.

Photo: jasoneppink (creative commons)