Here are 83 books that Scotch Whisky fans have personally recommended if you like
Scotch Whisky.
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Hans Offringa has written 25 books about whisky in one way or another, among which the international bestseller A Field Guide to Whisky. He has been contributing editor of Whisky Magazine and American Whiskey for a number of years, and is a Keeper of the Quaich, Kentucky Colonel, Lifetime International Ambassador of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, Founder of International Whisky Day, Honorary Ambassador of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and Patron of the Whisky Festival North Netherlands. Together with his American spouse Becky Lovett Offringa, who is co-author and contributing photographer to at least ten of Hans’ books, he conducts tastings and presentations.
Dave Broom is an all-round drinks writer and presenter, not limiting himself to Scotch only. He has written a score of books on various libations and is also considered a rum connoisseur. In fact, he is also one of the true experts on Japanese whisky. His The Way of Whisky not only captures the spirit of the drink but also the spirit of Japan, in a tender, almost poetical way. In his recently released road movie The Amber Light he takes his audience through the world of Scottish Whisky in his inimitable manner, which makes him such a great presenter. The Weegee accent is never far away and makes his talks even more enjoyable.
An in-depth, personal journey around Japan's whisky distilleries.
Award-winning author and Japanese whisky expert, Dave Broom, tells their story and unveils the philosophy that lies behind this fascinating whisky culture, and how it relates to many Japanese concepts.
Dave looks at the history and output of each distillery, considering the elements that make that particular whisky what it is, and including tasting notes. Features on aspects of Japanese life and culture that are crucial to a wider understanding, from the importance of the seasons to…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
Hans Offringa has written 25 books about whisky in one way or another, among which the international bestseller A Field Guide to Whisky. He has been contributing editor of Whisky Magazine and American Whiskey for a number of years, and is a Keeper of the Quaich, Kentucky Colonel, Lifetime International Ambassador of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, Founder of International Whisky Day, Honorary Ambassador of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and Patron of the Whisky Festival North Netherlands. Together with his American spouse Becky Lovett Offringa, who is co-author and contributing photographer to at least ten of Hans’ books, he conducts tastings and presentations.
Ingvar Ronde, a Swedish whisky connoisseur, writer, and publisher, surprised the whisky world with the first edition of The Malt Whisky Yearbook back in 2006. It became a classic instantly and has seen 15 updated editions so far. The MWY is an unmissable guide for professionals and whisky aficionados alike, fully packed with information about malt whisky distilleries around the world, images, figures about the industry, essays by foremost whisky writers, and tasting notes on the side. It is the only whisky book that always travels with me, wherever I go.
Whisky enthusiasts all over the world look forward to the Malt Whisky Yearbook every autumn. This 16th edition is again fully revised and packed with new and up-to-date information on more than 400 whisky distilleries from all over the world. Distinguished whisky experts contribute with new features written exclusively for this new edition along with details of hundreds of whisky shops, whisky sites and new bottlings. The Independent Bottlers chapter gives you all the details about the worlds most successful blenders and bottlers complete with tasting notes. A comprehensive summary of the whisky year that was and all the latest…
Hans Offringa has written 25 books about whisky in one way or another, among which the international bestseller A Field Guide to Whisky. He has been contributing editor of Whisky Magazine and American Whiskey for a number of years, and is a Keeper of the Quaich, Kentucky Colonel, Lifetime International Ambassador of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, Founder of International Whisky Day, Honorary Ambassador of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and Patron of the Whisky Festival North Netherlands. Together with his American spouse Becky Lovett Offringa, who is co-author and contributing photographer to at least ten of Hans’ books, he conducts tastings and presentations.
Historian Dr. Nicholas Morgan, Nick for intimi, was instrumental in setting up Diageo’s archives during his more than 30-year long career in the whisky industry and that is only one of his many accomplishments in this particular field. In the three years before he retired, he studied the history of the best-selling whisky brand in the world: Johnnie Walker. The result is an excellent book that explains how the making of whisky grew from a cottage industry in the Highlands to the multi-billion dollar industry of today. He uses the JW brand as an ‘example par excellence’ and explains once and for all in a clear and expressive way why blended whisky is so important and remains the key player in the whisky world, notwithstanding the fact that from a publicity point of view the emphasis on Scotch mostly falls on single malts (that ‘only’ represent roughly 12% of…
The history of Johnnie Walker, tracing its roots back to 1820, is also the history of Scotch whisky. But who was John Walker - the man who started the story? And how did his business grow from the shelves of a small grocery shop in Kilmarnock to become the world's No. 1 Scotch?
A Long Stride tells the story of how John Walker and a succession of ingenious and progressive business leaders embraced their Scottish roots to walk confidently on an international stage. By doing things their own way, Johnnie Walker overturned the conventions of late Victorian and Edwardian Britain,…
Delve into this internationally best-selling series, now complete! A fast paced laugh-out-loud mix of Urban Fantasy and Mystery.
I can tell when you’re lying. Every. Single. Time. I’m Jinx, a PI hired to find a missing university student, I hope to find her propped up at a bar–yet my gut…
I became intensely interested in wine while working in a Michelin Star kitchen where understanding how flavours work together, developing nuances in my palate, and an interesting wine list combine. Enthusiasm and passion led to success in wine examinations at the highest levels, working in wine retail, travelling the globe visiting amazing vineyards, and wineries, meeting iconic winemakers, influential vineyards managers, as well as other luminaries in the world of wine. The greatest benefit being many new friends and lifelong special memories. Along with the wine tastings I give, The Periodic Table of Wine is a way to share discovering wine and the joy it brings to new audiences.
Americans have quite a different relationship with alcohol compared to Europeans. This book uncovers the background of how Prohibition came about, how influences other than alcohol were key, along with the ingenuity of people on both sides of the debate to put their case or dodge the restrictions. Full of stories that explore the men, indomitable women, bootleggers, and economic as well as social forces and hypocrisy involved in the establishment and eventual repeal of Prohibition laws across America.
A brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of America’s most puzzling era, the years 1920 to 1933, when the US Constitution was amended to restrict one of America’s favorite pastimes: drinking alcoholic beverages.
From its start, America has been awash in drink. The sailing vessel that brought John Winthrop to the shores of the New World in 1630 carried more beer than water. By the 1820s, liquor flowed so plentifully it was cheaper than tea. That Americans would ever agree to relinquish their booze was as improbable as it was astonishing.
I am the author of two books on distilled spirits and have been blogging at AlcoholReviews.com since 1998. I have written about drinks, drinks history, and drinks politics for the New York Times and the American Spectator magazine. Whiskey is my favorite distilled spirit—there are so many fantastic types and brands of it. For consumers, it can be really bewildering to navigate. So, I take it as my duty to help people navigate the wide and wild world of whiskey!
This is neither an encyclopedia nor a tasting guide; rather, it is a deep travelogue of Islay, a Scottish island that is home to only a few thousand people and several of the greatest whisky distilleries on earth. Jefford paints for the reader a rich portrait of the island as a whole, and highly detailed miniatures of Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig. The reader who works through this thick book will come away with a thick knowledge of Scotch whisky, and a deep appreciation of the slice-of-heaven-on-earth that is Islay.
Those who discover malt whisky quickly learn that the malts made on the Isle of Islay are some of the wildest and most characterful in the malt-whisky spectrum.
In PEAT SMOKE AND SPIRIT, Islay's fascinating story is uncovered: from its history and stories of the many shipwrecks which litter its shores, to intimate descriptions of the beautiful wildlife, landscape and topography of the island. Interwoven through these different narrative strands comes the story of the whiskies themselves, traced from a distant past of bothies and illegal stills to present-day legality and prosperity. The flavour of each spirit is analysed and…
I played rugby union for Durham University and at Rosslyn Park FC in London. Then I became a reporter and editor, for Rugby News magazine and on Fleet Street sports desks. In March 2002, six months after 9/11 and a year before the invasion of Iraq, my Park team played against the cadets of the United States Military Academy. Years later, settled in New York, I decided to find out what happened to those West Point rugby players in the 9/11 wars, and what their experiences might tell us about sports, war, brotherhood, loss, and remembrance.
Tom English has produced a series of oral histories (latterly with Peter Burns) which any fan would be advised to read.
The Grudge tells the story of Scotland v England 1990, a game for the Five Nations title that stood for so much more: politics, nationalism, class warfare. It’s a glorious re-telling of an epic game, an upset Scotland win. But I love it for its portrayal of respect between players, of warriors bound by the violent game they play, of friendships across the lines of battle.
Brian Moore emerges a hero: the fearsome “Pitbull” of the England pack, yet a man who fronted up and went drinking with Scots after a crushing defeat. That, to me, is the true spirit of rugby, and the brotherhood it inspires.
Murrayfield, the Calcutta Cup, March 1990. England vs. Scotland - winner-takes-all for the Five Nations Grand Slam, the biggest prize in northern hemisphere rugby. Will Carling's England are the very embodiment of Margaret Thatcher's Britain - snarling, brutish and all-conquering. Scotland are the underdogs - second-class citizens from a land that's become the testing ground for the most unpopular tax in living memory: Thatcher's Poll Tax. In Edinburgh, nationalism is rising high - what happens in the stadium will resound far beyond the pitch.
The Grudge brilliantly recaptures a day that has gone down in history when a rugby…
On the morning of December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. The resulting tsunami killed an estimated 230,000 people across fourteen countries, from Indonesia to Sri Lanka to Thailand to the Maldives to India and all the way to East Africa.…
I am a novelist with a passion for reading and it is this which I feel qualifies me to speak on this topic. My reading is eclectic across the crime/mystery genre and there’s nothing I love more than a book that sucks me right into the same world its characters inhabit, something all five of my choices did. As a novelist I appreciate the way these novels all use the weather conditions to add an extra layer of threat to the protagonists and it’s something I’ve always wanted to emulate.
MacBride’s seminal debut introduces readers not only to an erstwhile hero and a stunning ensemble of secondary characters, but also his wonderful descriptions of a foul Aberdeen winter.
Scattered in among the narrative are little vignettes that elevate the whole story with his excellent turn of phrase. Since reading this novel, his books have become must reads for me, even if the Aberdeen Tourist Board don’t have him on their Christmas card list.
Stuart MacBride's Number One bestselling crime series opens with this award-winning debut. DS Logan McRae and the police in Aberdeen hunt a child killer who stalks the frozen streets.
Winter in Aberdeen: murder, mayhem and terrible weather...
It's DS Logan McRae's first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn't get much worse. Three-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch: strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. And he's only the first. There's a serial killer stalking the Granite City and the local…
As well as featuring kick-ass female lead characters, all the books listed delve into why people do what they do – and this has always fascinated me; it’s why I became a journalist. Talking to victims of crime, I was always struck by their strength (and that was never more true than when I fronted an award-winning campaign for victims of domestic abuse). Prior to that, I worked at a high-security men’s prison, and getting to know the prisoners had a profound impact on me. Now, whether reading or writing a book, I love to get under the skin of characters and find their ‘why.’
Complex, clever, and cunning Gruoch is fighting for her survival and the crown of the ancient kingdom of Scotland–and she isn’t going to let anything or anyone get in her way.
She has no one to look out for her, so she must take on the world herself, and no matter what was thrown at her, she kept on, as single-minded as ever–and I kept cheering her for that, despite her villainy.
LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION DAGGER 2024 LONGLISTED FOR THE GOLDSBORO GLASS BELL AWARD 2024 'Suspenseful, atmospheric and full of twists and turns, I loved the brutal, backstabbing world that Isabelle Schuler conjures up where only the most ruthless can survive' - Jennifer Saint 'Dazzlingly clever and difficult to put down' i Power. History. Love. Hate. Vengeance. She will be Queen. Whatever it takes... Daughter of an ousted king. Descendant of powerful druids. Destined to take her place in history. As a child, Gruoch's grandmother prophecies that she will one day be Queen of Alba and reclaim the lands…
I am an award-winning author and journalist, specialising in social history and gardening. I have an M.A. in Modern History from Cambridge University and a Diploma of Horticulture from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. I have written for many British newspapers and magazines, most notablyThe Spectator, The Observer, The Independent, The Sunday Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph, and The Garden.
Witch Wood tells the story of a high-minded, ardent and scholarly young Presbyterian minister, David Sempill, who is called to a benighted Tweeddale parish in 1645 at the time of the War of Three Kingdoms, and how his desire to root out covert witchcraft amongst some of his most ‘devout’ parishioners at a time of civil war and plague leads to tragedy and exile. The Marquis of Montrose, on whose biography John Buchan was working at the same time, has a walk-on part in the story. John Buchan considered this his best work of fiction, and I agree.
Buchan's favourite of all his novels, Witch Wood deals with the hypocrisy that can lie beneath god-fearing respectability.
The book is set in the terrifying times of the first half of the seventeenth century when the Church of Scotland unleashed a wave of cruelty and intolerance. Minister Sempill witnesses devil worship in the 'Witch Wood' and is persecuted. It comes with an introduction by Allan Massie.
Nelson West, a former Chicago homicide detective, is hired by wealthy heir Lionel Bing to discreetly help “fix” scandals and legal problems for his father’s wealthy friends.
Bing, a brilliant but troubled investigator, suffers from PTSD symptoms as a result of being kidnapped and witnessing the murder of his mother…
I’m a Scottish writer and have an interest in Scotland’s many mythical creatures. My home country is inhabited by a myriad of mythical creatures, including kelpies, bogles, and mysterious Highland merfolk and I’m sure the natural environment plays a part. The inspiration behind my children’s fantasy novel Guardians of the Wild Unicorns was the fact that the unicorn is Scotland’s national animal. It seemed bizarre that Scotland opted for a mythical creature as a national animal, but when I started to do research into why, all became clear. People in the past believed unicorns were real. Unicorns have a long and proud history in Scotland and were chosen as a symbol of strength, independence, and dignity.
I thought this book was absolutely brilliant. It is a treasure trove of stories and I am sure will be loved by children everywhere! Kate Leiper’s artwork is stunning and the stories are fascinating and populated by Scottish mythical creatures from Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster to the beautiful selkies. Before reading this book I’d never heard of the half-man, half-wolf Shetland Wulver. A kind and generous mythical creature is a rare beast and I’d love to read more stories about Wulvers!
Mysterious selkies, bad-tempered giants, devious fairies and even Loch Ness's most famous resident -- these are the mythical beasts of Scottish folklore.
In the highly anticipated companion volume to the much-loved An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales, award-winning children's author Theresa Breslin brings together a stunning collection of tales from across Scotland.
Alternately humorous, poignant and thrilling, each story is brought to life with exquisite illustrations by Scottish fine artist Kate Leiper.
A wonderful gift, this is a truly stunning book to be treasured for a lifetime and will be enjoyed by parents and grandparents as well…
