The Scottish Whisky Distilleries

 Misako Udo 2006, Black and White Publishing. 610 pages no index.

This is the ultimate geeks guide to Scottish whisky. OK so there is not an abundance of stories nor is there an unwinding plot – nor are there full page colour photo’s of Scottish glens, there isn’t even a hint of tartan.

This book is written by someone with a history of guided tours of distilleries, someone who has travelled, visited and built relationships with the distilleries. In doing this she has been able to prise out lots – and I mean LOTS of detailed information.

There is a section on how to use the book which also forms a useful and detailed glossary. There is also a small section on where to buy and drink whisky in Scotland, Edinburgh, Speyside and Glasgow and more.

The vast bulk of the book is a catalogue of distilleries, including lost and closed ones. The amount of information is outstanding and ranges from foundation date, still type and size, variety of barley used and virtually anything else you want to know – right down to the names of the distillery cats and where they live, apart from Laphroaig where we are told they have a family of stoats that live in the malthouse wall.

This book is not bedtime reading but is an excellent reference source.