A book at bedtime

[toshie]

I was reading Peat Smoke and Spirit by Andrew Jefford last night, and what a fine read it is too. Part history of Islay, part social history of the distilleries, full of great characters, and part tasting notes. But as I was flicking through the pages, I suddenly 'tasted' the Lagavulin 16, sitting patiently in my cupboard waiting for an airing.Obviously I followed my taste buds and poured a dram. Sitting there, sipping and reading, it just seemed the two were made for each other. Naturally, when my eye fell on the chapter on Bowmore, I had to repeat the experience. Best way ever to read a book

[Iain]

For safety's sake, please check your cupboard carefully before reading "Arsenic and Old Lace"

[toshie]

[Frodo]

Yeah, funny thing is I bought this book a while ago, and found the bits about the distilleries facsinating, but the rest drags on a bit. I decided to try it again when I have some drams from all of the distilleries. I now only have Ardbeg 17, Bruichladdich 15 (200ml) and Port Ellen. I have no problem getting a Laga or Bowmore but the thought of spending money on a full bottle of Bunnahabain 12 or Laphroiag 10yr is not sitting well with me.

Oh if only I could get some 200ml sizes from those distilleries...

Frodo

[Deactivated Member]

I will repeat here that I think this is a marvelous book, and I intend to bring a paperback copy along as a guide when I visit Islay in October.

I have been amused by those (and there have been more one) who proclaim the distillery sections fascinating and the rest boring. Certainly the general reader would think the other way around. To each his own; certainly we who post here have nothing entirely in common other than a love of whisky. But it's a shame that some seem to have so little interest in the country that makes their favorite drams. This is, after all, a book about an island, with particular focus on whisky, rather than a book about whisky, with sidebars about the place.

Okay, I'm prejudiced, because I love Scotland and have been traveling the country longer than I've been seriously into whisky. If it's only the whisky that interests you, that's your prerogative. But the drop in your glass has a lot of history, geography, politics, economics, and who knows what else behind it. I find all that fascinating, and not just for its pertinence to whisky.

[Lawrence]

Frodo said;

I have no problem getting a Laga or Bowmore but the thought of spending money on a full bottle of Bunnahabain 12 or Laphroiag 10yr is not sitting well with me.

Frodo are you not a fan of Laphroaig?

[toshie]

Mr T: I find myself in complete agreement with you. I even found myself looking forward to four seasons in an hour, battling horizontal rains, battering guy ropes into the ground to keep me upright in the teeth of an Atlantic gale and swapping whisky tales deep into an Islay night with horny old sons of the soil. But that may have been the Bowmore talking last night
I do think, however, that to know the people who make your dram, and the conditions under which they live their normal day-to-day lives, serves to put the enjoyment of your dram into some kind of context.
If you're stopping off in Glasgow before your Islay odyssey, I'd be happy to share a glass or two with you.
Bill

[Deactivated Member]

Thanks, toshie! I'm afraid I'm just passing through the airport on this trip--actually just dropping by to pick up the other two lads. Then we're off straightaway to Edinburgh. Four nights in Islay and a night in Inveraray before I drop them off again, and then I'm headed for the deep south--Isle of Whithorn! Never been Galloway way before. But there's always next year--hopefully we're both still blethering here.

One of the other boys (he's lurking around here somewhere) has ancestry in Largs, so perhaps we'll be in your neck of the woods again.

[toshie]

So you're missing Whisky Live! are you? I'm told last year's (I was on holiday ) was historic.

[Deactivated Member]

Yeah--not my kind of thing, to be honest. Don't like crowds! That's why I go to Scotland in October.

[Frodo]

Frodo are you not a fan of Laphroaig?

Unfortunatly I've only had the 10yr old, and based on that expression alone, I'm not a big fan. If I couldn't afford Ardbeg 10, I'd probably have a bottle of Laphroaig for an invigorating nip coming in from inclimate weather. And I'd love to try the Quarter Cask version. But the 10yr version is just a little too... I dunno. Not polished enough I guess. I'm going to have to revisit the whisky as it's been a while (5yrs or so), and tastes change. At this point though I'd rather get the Bowmore 15 or Talisker for $65 than this for $50. Just my take on things.

Frodo

[Frodo]

Mr TH:

Yeah I agree that it's probably a good book, and it does seem well written. It's just that at the time, I wanted a book on whisky as opposed to taking in a wider scope. It doesn't mean the book was bad or poorly written, just that it wasn't what I was receptive to at the time.

I'll be able to give an ammended responce after I finish it. I will need to be in a certain frame of mind and check my expectations at the door before I try again.

Frodo

[Deactivated Member]

Well, there is certainly a very good, if somewhat more slender, book about just whisky within PS&S, and if that's what you want, you could certainly do worse. Just skip the other chapters. Doesn't strike me as good value, though!

[Frodo]

I agree completely!