An excellent and yet still portable book that is a great reference no matter what your level of expertise.Don’t got to Scotland ( or your local ) before you read it and bring it along !
Title :Discovering and Mastering Single Malt Whisky
Subtitle :None
Author : Sébastien Gavillet
Publisher:Baere and Uvae Publishing Company
Type: Reference (with some Recipes)
Binding: Paperback, duodecimo, 244 pages, Illus.,
Cost: $27.95 US
REVIEWED BY: Chris Carlsson, Spirits Review.com
Notes: While not the most exhaustive of the Scotch or malt whiskey books I have read, I find it one of the most useful, which is saying a lot if you ever saw my library.
Well written and concise, Mr Gavillet blends a mixture of the necessary, the entertaining, and useful with just the right amount of detail for almost anyone except the most obsessed and packages it in a very easy to read and reference book.
Starting with the basics, terminology and history for a foundation, it goes on to distillation in a good amount of detail as to types,methods and equipment,then carries on to how to drink, appreciate and evaluate Single Malt Scotch. This chapter also includes a very useful and necessary section on characteristics and groupings of single malts so you are able to parse them into managable clusters or groups which is very useful for anyone wishing to explore (or exclude) different types or styles in their tasting or collections.
These chapters are then followed on by a mixology chapter, a good if brief discussion the various distilleries ( along with water sources for each) and some very useful glossary and indexes sections to quickly reference.
Final Thoughts: Nicely detailed without being overdone, this book strikes a nice balance between between information and information overload for both the beginner and the professional who wants a quick, definitive reference without a lot of digging into many books or resources to get an answer.
Highly recommend for the novice/beginner and also for the professional as a quick reference and refresher. Another nice fact about the book is that it is lightweight and compact for travel to your favorite bar, a trip to Scotland or light reading anywhere .
Website: http://www.whiskyvibe/app
The website itself is still under construction but an excellent app is available. While it only covers single malt whiskies (sorry no bourbons or other types of whiskey) it does an outstanding job with over database of over 1200 entries
