Book oh the week 9/10

Ian Buxton is one of Britain’s most entertaining and prolific whisky authors and the latest – fourth – edition of his 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die is him at his best. It is a cheery, informative anthology of some of the world’s best and most interesting whiskies to swirl past your tonsils in however many years you manage to dodge the Grim Reaper.

Each two-page spread consists of a photo of the whisky on the left-hand page with comment on the right which is a mix of background, history, information about the whisky itself (distilling techniques and procedures, casks used, age, alcohol strength and peatiness, if any,) plus sundry other information, all in a breezy but tightly-written style that makes for easy reading.

Although Scotch whiskies, especially single malts, get the lion’s share of coverage, whiskies from the US, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Taiwan, Japan, Ireland and a few other countries are scattered throughout the book.

He particularly praises some up-and-coming whiskies from Canada, a country that has not enjoyed the greatest of reputations in the past. However, it seems that several new distilleries, as well as some of the well-established ones, are today producing some very interesting whiskies, although many of them are as yet not widely available outside Canada. But one can always try the internet as the route to locating and ordering them and getting them delivered to your door.

Among the Scotch single malts, he praises some very familiar names, but, as so many single malts are now available in up to a dozen or more ”expressions” – as the vogue word is – he selects one that he feels offers the best combination of flavour, quality and price. However, he often comments about how he has decided to drop a whisky he selected for previous editions because its price has soared, sometimes out of reach, in recent years.

He also includes numerous whiskies which, he freely admits, are not among his favourites, but he feels have a special quality, nose or taste that merit them being included. The book is also awash with interesting little details about distilleries or companies, often with a nice turn of phrase, like one company he praised for buying distilleries that were “the unloved orphans of their previous owners” and making a success of them. He has a great fund of knowledge about the industry which enlivens each pen portrait of each whisky.

He also takes the odd cheerful swipe at certain whisky bloggers, especially those addicted to the smokiest and peatiest whiskies.

All in all, the fourth edition is as good a read as the first. Review by Brian Townsend.

By Ian Buxton, Headline, £14.99