Scotch Missed: The Lost Distilleries of Scotland [Paperback]

Brian Townsend (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998

A journey into the whisky industry's Victorian past and what little remains of it. Some 80 distilleries have vanished under car parks, carpet stores, apartments and restaurants. This is a tribute to lost drams.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Townsend is a native of Brechin and was educated in Britain and Switzerland. He is a journalist and author of The Lost Distilleries of Ireland. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Neil Wilson Pub Ltd; 2nd edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1897784538
• ISBN-13: 978-1897784532
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,062,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some nice history, December 6, 2002

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Scotch Missed: The Lost Distilleries of Scotland (Paperback)

Many of Scotland's distilleries had closed in recent (and not-so-recent) decades, and I thought I'd mention some of my favorites, which Townsend discusses in his book.

Some, like the heavily peated Islay, Ardbeg (which I understand has been re-opened, fortunately), were justly famous; others, like Dallas Dhu and Millburn, were more obscure, but their closing was still a loss. People used to make jokes about the Dallas Dhu name (which means "black glen" in Scots Gaelic), but it really did produce a fine malt, and I had fun doing tastings of it with friends back in the late 80's, when it was still readily available in independent bottlings at different ages and from different independent bottlers. It was notable for some semi-sweet chocolate notes, a rare flavor and essence in scotch whiskey, and I used to enjoy it very much. The only other malt that comes to mind with a chocolate flavor to me right now was a 25-year-old bottling of Scapa, a 1968 or therabouts issue, if I remember correctly. But anyway, it certainly was a fine malt and worthy of comparison with the Dallas Dhu. One time I put on a tasting for other single-malt afficianado friends and acqaintances of almost nothing but "vanished malts," of which I had bottles of about a dozen at the time, and we all had a great time tasting their whiskies and talking about single-malts and whatever.

Although bourbons and cognacs are impressive spirits too, if there is one thing that separates single malts from the others, it's the sheer spectrum of diversity and intensity of the many qualities that they possess. The intense, crystal-clear essences and flavors of this great distillate are unique, and in truly appreciating a fine dram of one of the great single malts at the end of a day, even life's more pressing problems seem to themselves vanish for a moment. As someone once wrote, life is still worth living as long as there is a good single-malt available. And perhaps that's why it translates from the Gaelic as "the water of life."

But getting back to Townsend's book, here he gives a nod to the history and scotch of the many famous and more obscure distilleries and whiskies of Scotland that are no longer with us. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about all the different distilleries, even the defunct ones, but I still learned some new things from this enjoyable book, and I would recommend it to any and all single-malt enthusiasts who are looking for something different in a book about scotch.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not to be missed, August 16, 2005

By 

The California Scotch Society (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scotch Missed: The Lost Distilleries of Scotland (Paperback)

This book was extremely informative and I would recommend it highly for any scotch whisky aficionado. The book allows you to create a vivid mental picture of how old distilleries must have been, plus the illustrations are great. Scotch Missed will further your knowledge on the history of this fascinating industry.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars addictive toddy of a historical read!, March 30, 2000

By 

mrs jackson (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scotch Missed: The Lost Distilleries of Scotland (Paperback)

Highly informative paperback on scotland's lost whisky distilleries, including those which have closed in recent years and whose whiskies can still be found in specialist shops or the occasional liquor store that doesn't realise the gems it has on its shelves. Definitely a must for the whisky enthusiast looking for a dram of a book.