September 26, 2005

Booze Books - Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History

We always like to know more about what we're drinking, and there's a whole spate of new books on scotch coming out lately. If you'd like to know more about your next dram, we suggest Scotch Whisky: A Liquid Historyby Charles MacLean. The book doesn't simply focus on one or two varieties of scotch, or tell you about distilleries - it goes fully in-depth on the origins of the whisky, complete with going medieval on your ass.

According to an LA Times write up of the book:

"Charles MacLean's "Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History" (Cassell Illustrated, $24.95) falls in the serious, detailed category, complete with eight dense pages of footnotes, but on a large scale. It covers the vast world of Scotch, including its poorly documented medieval origins, the single malt revival and the recent trend of distilleries to open to the public, in the manner of Napa wineries. Fortunately, it's not only knowledgeable — drenched in knowledge, almost — but very readable.
It's primarily a history, but it finds room in its majestic narrative for a good amount of information about the technical side of Scotch. Not enough for you to make your own whisky, but certainly enough to understand the sorts of thing that Scotch geeks are likely to go on about, such as floor maltings (rooms where barley is raked over floors heated by peat fires to stop its sprouting)."

You can pick up your own paperback copy of Scotch Whisky: A Liquid Historyat Amazon.com for far less than the $24.95 cover price, and browse other scotch books by Charles MacLean.

Read more about the book at LATimes.com.