Appreciating Whisky

Description: As with fine wines, there is a social cachet in being able to "appreciate" a good Scotch. But how exactly do you learn this skill? This illustrated book offers the reader detailed, structured tuition on how to develop his or her palate for whisky. Readers are taken on a detailed tour of how whisky is produced, what each of its constituents and each of the stages of its manufacture bring to the final product. With this grounding, they are then introduced to the various chemical processes at work during distillation and maturation that give each whisky its distinct characteristics. Using specific popular whiskies which readers are encouraged to have to hand as they work through the book, they are taught how to recognise what it is they are tasting and smelling, and how to describe this in the language of the experts. Armed with this knowledge, readers should ultimately be able to develop their own informed impressions of the whisky they drink, rather than receive them second-hand from books. Review: Appreciating Whisky covers ground never before addressed by the literature of whisky ... and does so lucidly, thoroughly, idiosyncratically and with good humour. This book will join that small shelf of 'key sources' in my whisky library. It is essential reading for anyone who, in Phillip Hills' words, wishes to "climb by your own efforts from the slough of incomprehension into the dim light of understanding". Charlie Maclean, Whisky Magazine Independent-minded, witty, erudite, and on occasion, iconoclastic and downright bawdy, Hills is clearly obsessed by whisky and this makes him the ideal guide to this complex and fascinating drink. This excellent book is likely to remain the most authoritative in its field for a long time. Robin Davidson, Amazon.co.uk This book is wonderfully written ... it educates in a very thorough and pleasing manner. Everything you need to know about appreciating whisky, technically and culturally, is here. Read it and you won't need another whisky book in your life. Gordon Haggarty, The List magazine In this swashbuckling book, Pip Hills lays bare all the secrets of whisky from its chemistry to its culture. He goes straight to the heart of the matter with admirable dispatch, revealing how the communion of barley, water, peat and oak creates a spirit of unique complexity. If there was ever a Master of Whisky course, this would be the primer to have at your elbow. Derek Cooper, Food writer and broadcaster Author Biography: Phillip Hills was a founder of the Scotch Malt Whisky Association and through this, played a significant role in persuading whisky companies to produce malt whisky for general consumption. He is the owner of The Malt Masterclass, a company specialising in private and corporate tasting classes. He is also the first (and only) holder since 1791 of a private licence to distill whisky which he does for demonstration purposes onhis private still.