Customer Reviews

Single Malt & Scotch Whiskey: Select and Savor Over 200 Brands and Varieties (Essential Connoisseur)

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Daniel Lerner's primer on Scotch whisky (no "e" allowed!) is a useful book primarily for those with no knowledge of the subject- as Mr. Lerner admits he himself was when he embarked on this project. As a single-malt enthusiast but by no means an expert, I bought this book for its promised survey of and tasting notes on more than 100 whiskies. I regret to say that I was disappointed.

The greatest liability of the book is in the tasting notes, which are often vague, frequently simplistic, and rarely informative. Part of this is doubtless due to the rather scattershot tasting methods employed, described in an appendix by the author; however, if you're looking for detailed information on which whiskies match your personal tastes, this is not the book to buy.

For the beginner, perhaps, this manual, with its glossy color photography and useful general overview of the process of whisky production, is a decent buy; next time, however, I'll spend more money to get a more detailed book.

One of the strengths if this book is a very pleasing format that uses the subjects themselves as decorative illustrations. A picture here is worth more than a thousand words. The introductory matter is informative and well presented. Unfortunately a glaring error present in a former edition is perpetuated in the current volume. Laphroaig is labeled as a northern highland scotch, when it is clearly labeled and well known as coming from a distillery on the southern coast of Islay. The fact that this mistake appears in another edition makes one wonder whether poor editing or poor research is at root. In all, a nice little volume. However, if you can only get one refernece book on the topic, get Michael Jackson's.

Knowledgeably compiled and expertly organized by Daniel Lerner, "Single Malt And Scotch Whisky" is an informed and informative 199-page reference guide to more than two hundred brands and varieties of scotch whisky. This superbly illustrated, newly revised and expanded addition covers the varieties, strength, aroma, flavor, and distinguishing characteristics of each cited brand. Comprehensive, 'reader friendly', and easily portable, readers will begin with an informative introductory chapter on 'How to Use this Book', and then move on to learn about the distilling process, what constitutes Scotch Whiskey, labels, and more. Enhanced with the inclusion of a glossary, a resource guide, and a comprehensive index, "Single Malt And Scotch Whiskey" is clearly an ideal reference and guide which is very highly recommended for novice whiskey drinkers, restauranteurs, barkeeps, and collectors.

A very useful guide to Scotch. It goes into detail of the various areas that the fine liquid comes from, and the differences between them.

You get tasting information, and it also serves as a nice long list of things to try and get a taste of. A tasting session and scoring is detailed at the end.

Excellent information and background on the scotch whiskey. They all sounded delicious. However, I could not find any description of the Glenfidicch.