Book review: Charles MacLean's Whiskypedia: A Gazetteer of Scotch Whisky

Published on Saturday 20 June 2009 11:25

Charles MacLean's Whiskypedia: A Gazetteer of Scotch Whisky is Published in hardback by Birlinn, priced £16.99.

For less than the price of a bottle of malt, the Edinburgh-based award-winning whisky writer Charles MacLean shares his wide knowledge of the subject, and throws in a few weird and wonderful facts along the way.

"There are many whisky books, a few by yours truly, but nothing quite like this," laughs Charles, the author of nine bestselling and award-winning books on the "water of life", "It's amazing how quickly things change in the whisky industry, and this brings everything together.

"Distilleries can be closed or opened again after many years of not producing whisky, or they might be sold to another distillery group, and every year there are more and more 'expressions', whiskies that are matured in different casks to give them distinct and unusual tastes. It's an exciting time for whisky."

Distillery by distillery, Charles takes readers around the country, listing practical information from whether the distillery does tours to notes on how the whisky is made and the different expressions the distillery sells.

"The purpose of Scotch whisky is to give pleasure, and that's something we all want. It was a pleasure writing Whiskypedia and I hope the book gives pleasure to everyone who reads it " says Charles.

7/10