This showed up on the Malt Advocate doorstep last week. It sort of reminds me of Michael Jackson’s “Whisky” book from several years back. It’s edited by Charles Maclean, and there are several well-respected authors (Dave Broom, Tom Bruce-Gardyne, Ian Buxton, Charles Maclean, Peter Mulryan, Hans Offringa, and Gavin Smith). There are some great pictures, and it covers whiskies from around the world. There’s also maps and tasting notes on many distillery bottlings.
Unlike MJ’s Whisky book, World Whisky doesn’t identify the author for each chapter. (If it does, I couldn’t find it.) That would be nice to know. For example, I was looking to see who wrote about American whiskeys (given that none of the writers for this book live in the U.S.), but couldn’t find the answer. (The reason why I was looking is because I can think of a few of whiskey writers living here in the U.S. who would have done a great job of it.)
It looks like a nice book, and I look forward to reading through it.
As I’m typing this, I couldn’t help but get a little bit emotional though, as it hit me: we are now in the post-Michael Jackson era, with a new generation of whisky writers carrying the whisky torch. As we discussed here earlier in the year, no one person can really replace Michael. This doesn’t mean things will be worse (or even better): just different.
I imagine that we’ll be selling the book in Malt Advocate magazine and on our website. But if you need a contact at the publisher (DK Publishing), here it is: Susan.Stockman@DK.com.
Just this morning, I got an email from Amazon.uk suggesting this book, but it was impossible to get a feeling for it other than “lots of pretty pictures”. It didn’t help that the first displayed photo included Rock n Rye.
I bought this book a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised to see it in my local B&N, as it wasn’t available online yet.
I think it’s a very enjoyable, informative read, and nice coffee table book. Like you said, it feels a lot like MJ’s Whisky – Definitive World Guide, but brought up to date.
I’m easy to please, as I enjoy just looking through all of the great pictures and reading the tasting notes, but there are a bunch of interesting, themed sections scattered throughout:
There’s “Secrets of…” that looks behind the scenes at various distilleries, and “Whiskey Tours…” that provide tips and recommended itinerary if you’re touring a particular whiskey region. Plus a lot of stuff you’ll find in MJ’s book, such as how it’s made, how to taste, etc.
I know some who have been whisk(e)y enthusiasts for longer than me have a sentimental attachment to Michael Jackson, so perhaps it’s heresy for me to say this, but so far, I think this is a fine replacement for The Definitive World Guide for those looking for a single coffee table style whisk(e)y book. Better yet, buy both.
Jeff H, thanks for the review!
Looks interesting. I recently picked up “Whisky: A Fascinating Journey Through the Most Famous Whiskies and Distilleries Worldwide” by Marc A. Hoffmann for $15 at my local Chapters. It looks to be quite similar to the above.
Charles MacLean is one of my favorite Scotch Whisky writers. His writings are similar to Jim Murray’s older books in that he regales the reader not only with a history of the distillery but also with notable anecdotes concerning it. His writings on blends are similarly informative.
This will be an interesting book to read.