Customer Reviews

Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Reviews are matters of personal opinion, so the other reviewer (only one as I write this) is welcome to his/hers. But I think he/she kind of missed the point of this book. This isn't supposed to be a Michael Jackson review of single malts, though I have to say I like Banksie's taste in whisk(e)y. It's not even supposed to be a tour guide of distilleries, though he does a nice job of calling attention to the most beautiful, warmest, most full-featured (those who still malt their own grains) distilleries and visitor shops. I'd certainly suggest having a wee dram of whatever Banksie recommends, and having personally toured a number of distilleries, I'd also follow up on his recommendations there.

That said, the point of this book is to talk about all of the above with wit and humor and a personal slant that no one else could really bring to the subject. And at that the book absolutely excels. The personal history this quintessentially Scottish author recounts brings these places to life in a way that no photograph ever could (despite the astonishing beauty of some of the places he writes about).

In Scotland, there's a complimentary observation one makes about people who know how to tell a good story, or entertain somehow by their mere presence -- such a person is said to have "great crack". It's fun to be around someone like this because they make things interesting by sheer force of personality. Iain Banks has great crack! And he waves it about in the pages of this book. It's just plain fun to read, from the humorous observations about friends volunteering to help him on his whisk(e)y trek, to the sadly accurate portrayal of the imperialist insanity of the Bush administration, to the wry, honest self revelations and deprecations regarding affectations and tastes in building climbing, motorways, and restaurants, to the beautiful homages to the Scottish countryside. Iain Banks loves life, writing, Scotland, whisk(e)y, science fiction, and a million other things, and despises politics and corruption (who doesn't!), and he shares these tastes in a clever, sweet, and funny way.

Obligatory full disclosure: I'm a great fan of the science fiction work by this author, under the name of Iain M. Banks, and quite love some of his non-science fiction work (sans M.) as well. I've also had the pleasure of meeting him once, through a mutual friend, Malcolm Crosbie, of Shooglenifty fame. I would have found the autobiographical notes throughout this book fascinating had I not cared one wit for single malt or Scotland, and I love both (well, all three, including Banksie, as his friends call him).

Buy this book for a good, fun read, akin to say, a Terry Pratchett book about a bizarrely recognizable Discworld known as Scotland.

This is a travel book -- where the "perfect dram" is not just what you are drinking, but who you are drinking it with. It's highly entertaining, and despite just having come back from two weeks in Scotland, I want to go right back and see about much of what he writes about...I feel like I missed so much!

If you are looking for a book on whisky and distilleries, this isn't it. If you're looking for a book on enjoying whisky in your life, it's the greatest book written.

When I discovered the existence of this book I knew I had to own it. I love Banks' books and I love single malt scotch; this book is the perfect amalgam of the two. Once I had it in my sweaty little hands and started reading I had a moment of doubt - a brief fear that it might prove to be self-indulgent on his part, puffed up to extend the page count. I need not have worried. The book does not pretend to be a comprehensive guide to either whisky or Scotland; it is one man's journey across his homeland sampling the product thereof in the company of his dear friends (and favorite automobiles). I like vintage cars, motorcycles, grand vistas, science fiction and whisky, but I think I'd enjoy this book even without all those links - Banks does a beautiful job describing the beauties of his homeland and the subtleties of a fine dram.

Raw Spirit is about Scottish novelist Iain Banks who is commissioned to write a book about Scottish Whisky distilleries. The subtitle of the book, "In Search of the Perfect Dram" reflects that next to the whisky, the book is much about the searching part of it. Generally it works nice when the core topic is being alternated with some of the "behind the scene" stories as it prevents the book from boring you with just lists of facts like how much liter the wash back of distillery X is, or how much ppm of peat can be found in the whisky from distillery Y. The only problem is that the mind of the author tends to wonder off quite a lot in this book. As a whisky fan, I really could do without the personal opinions of the author on the Iraqi war, or having to read how wonderful it is to drive a Porsche 911 or BMW M5. After I was guessing that the 6 pages ahead of me would be all about a certain make of car (which turned out to be a correct prediction) I laid the book aside, which is still where I left it. As the author himself had already explained that it's okay to discard a book after having read the first 100 pages, I don't feel too shy to write a review here anyway. The bottom line is that if you are a big fan of Iain Banks and would like to know more about his hobbies, friends, and opinions on many subjects, including whiskies, you are probably going to like the book a lot. If you want to read the book mainly because you want to know more about Scotch whisky, you actually might like it too because the author does have a pleasant writing style. But I'm not promising.

For a book I can't even get [new] in the US, the price--74 cents!--was unbeatable. Arrived in a timely fashion, condition was as described. Wouldn't hesitate to purchase from theis retailer again in the future.

I know there are some grumbling negative reviews of this book, but I liked it a lot. And I live in Scotland.

I think it's important to read this book with an open mind. The folks who commissioned Iain Banks to write this guide to Scottish single malts were not just interested in him delivering a soberly (!) comparative guide to single malts, but also must have wanted his own brand of incisive, accessible, writerly charm to accompany it. I think he's delivered both. This is the Banksian shot at Zen and the Art of Whisky Appreciation. This is a book to be read at leisure, maybe taking notes, maybe not.

While intersposing amusing anecdotes about his foibles, his friends, his love of cars and driving, and a certain degree of political engagement - his research for this book began at the start of the present Iraq war - I think "Banksy" has also managed to provide an extremely reliable guide to the individual flavours of Scottish single malts and to the interesting process of making them.

What is exposed, as the narrative meanders around Scotland and its many distilleries, is Mr Banks's rather unexpectedly (if you're familiar with his fiction) kindly and constructive nature. At no point does he disparage any of the malts he's been encouraged to review. Instead, using his writerly gifts for precise, unpretentious description, he gives us a very accurate impression of the way each of them tastes.

I can certainly attest that his descriptions of the few single malts I have tasted myself are spot-on. He also makes it very clear which tastes he prefers (strong!) and leaves the reader to decide on the others, without passing unfavourable judgement - although he is very quick to praise his favourites.

In fact, my very favourite single malt is one which he does not particularly favour himself, but he has certainly described it perfectly. This makes me trust his judgement.

I suppose the only minor criticism I have of Mr Banks's approach is that many of the malts he describes are older (and more expensive) than the 10-12 year-old products available to those of us on Scottish supermarket budgets. However, he does describe the various ages of each distillery's offerings to a certain degree, so this is not a major criticism. It just makes me wish I had more money to spend on whisky!

In fact, I think this book has very neatly accomplished what its commissioners wanted; I now intend to taste every malt I can, to decide for myself which might be a "perfect dram." Mission accomplished. And, Mr Banks, if you ever decide to UPDATE this guide, I'd be very happy to help...

I think the title of this book "Raw Spirit" is autobiographical, i.e., Iain is describing himself in his usual way of making puns where it suits him. Iain is someone who almost can't believe that he is making a living doing what he does (writing) while having the relative freedom to live life his way and on top of that get hired to go walkabout (mostly on wheels) through Scotland to drink single malt scotch.
He spends as much time reflecting on the Scottish roads and countryside, the Iraq war, British taxes, Australian red wine (of a specific bottling), Scottish cooking, favorite cars and motorbikes, the US President, firecrackers, and personal friends who accompany him, as he does on tasting single malt scotch whiskey. This is why I gave the book only 3 stars, because someone seeking more information on Scotch should go elsewhere, and that's the honest part of me as a reviewer.
OTOH, if, like me, you adore Penfolds Grange (I have the largest 3 decade collection in the East US), damn good scotch, well-engineered motor vehicles on twisty roads, close/old friends, & warped skiffy stories; and you hate the Iraq war, the 'dubya' President, the use of taxes for miltary and complete BS properness, then the rating for this book should be 5 stars. And it doesn't hurt that this book drove me to my fave stores to hunt rare SMs as well for a small fortune.
The fact that I like Iain's stories, particularly the skiffies, is just the best icing on the cake. Aside from the Glenfiddich Havana Reserve, that is. An' heer's tu ya.

I've never read Iain Banks before, so there is no bias in my review. I found the political rants in this book a little distracting but would probably go right along with a few friends throwing back a few drinks. I liked the stories and Banks has a lot of charisma. There is enough useful information in the book to get an idea about different Scotch whiskies and I'm tempted to take a tour of some of these places myself. As another reviewer said, this book could have used some more editing to make it better. If taken further this book could have been a bit more of an autobiography in an indirect way, because of all the background stories you get of Banks' life and insights into his beliefs. I only recommend the book if you are interested in:

A) comparisons of Scottish whiskies and distilleries;
B) getting an idea of what this author is like;
C) learning a bit about Scottish towns and geography;

I really wanted to like this book, I promise. It's a great premise, and Banks' fiction work is great. But I found the book boring. There's not all that much about whisky or distilleries, other than a seemingly endless count of passages that read something like "We woke up that morning and had another large breakfast at the Hogsbreath Inn, then went to visit Quoylesly, Bruighbladdach, and Dinglefoot distilleries. Let me tell you about this time I passed another car in my M5 before meeting up with more friends to drink beer and whisky....." There's no coherent narrative (yes, I am aware it is non-fiction), many of the anecdotes are just boring, I lost track of the names of all of his friends and relations. I sympathized with his anti-war sentiment, but his attitudes seemed mildly hypocritical given that he's driving around a bunch of fuel-hogs. I don't know, the book just wasn't worth it, so I stopped reading...

It seemed like a good idea - well known author and scotch drinker travelling around Scotland sampling malt whiskeys and writing about his experiences.

Sadly, this book is at least 100 pages too long. Either Banks suffers from loggorhea or his publisher forgot to hire an editor. The sections on whiskey were entertaining and illuminating, but the travel bits - especially Banks' political writing - were stupefying.

More fun would be buying a good bottle and looking at pictures of Scotland.