This month I wanted to share some of my thoughts about some books on Whisky. These are only a few of the hundreds of books available on the subject.

"I have drunk it and seen it drunk in many parts of the world and I am unrepentant."
That comment of Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart starts his famous book "The Whisky of Scotland in Fact and Story.

The first book I ever read on whisky was the great "Scotch Whisky, its Past and Present" by Professor David Diaches. My new fiancee gave it to me as a Christmas present on our engagement in 1970. Diachs starts "A rugged country with a stormy history; Scotland, with its mountains and glens and lochs and streams, captures the visitor with its beauty and its legends, and haunts the exile with insistent memory."

My friend Derek Cooper wrote, "The making is deceptively simple. You take barley, malt, ferment it, distill it, age it and then drink it."

There's a chance too you'll discover Gavins Smith's fascinating book of words - "Whisky" which starts with aftershots at the beginning and ends with "wort": "The liquid containing all the sugars of the malt which is drawn off after the malt has been mashed with warm water."

And if it is possible you should find the fascinating "Malt Whisky File" with wonderful tasting notes from Aberlous to Tullidbardine.

You can find more articles in the archive under The Whisky Connoisseur.