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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Drink Book of the Month: Whiskey Opus (DK Books)

WHISKEY OPUS; the world's greatest distilleries and their whiskeys
(DK Books, 2012, 300 pages, ISBN 978-0-7566-9833-1, $40 US hard covers)
is by Gavin D. Smith and Dominic Roskrow, with contributions by Davin
De Kergommeaux and Jurgen Deibel (Davin is a Canadian writer, author of
whisky articles for magazines and author of Canadian Whisky. This is an
incredibly informative book about the brown spirit of whiskey and
whisky. Every single style is noted, from single-malts to poteen, with
info on how to appreciate each one. The emphasis is global: so while
Scotland has the lion's share of 130 pages, there are about 125 for the
ROW. The US and Canada are separate, but all whiskey-producing
countries are included, along with a glossary and intro primer. It is a
huge book, measuring 11 by 9 inches, lots of photos (a DK Books
specialty). Regions are described, e.g., Speyside, Islay, Highlands,
Lowlands, and there are tasting notes for selected distilleries. It's
not comprehensive: only the best are included. Still, there is enough
here to keep even the most fervid fan happy. As I write this review,
you can get the book from Amazon.Com for $27.33 (or $27.59 in Canada,
with free shipping). Quality/Price Rating: 90.
 
 

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