Whisky
Eddie Ludlow
DK Australia
Eddie Ludlow’s mission consists not only of preaching to the converted and expanding their horizons but getting non-believers turned on to whisky – the man likes bringing people together over a dram and genuinely, passionately lives breathes, eats and sleeps whisky.
Whisky is one of the many books of the evangelist of the water of life and serves not only as a great reference resource for the initiated but also paves the way for the ones who have yet to see the light – no matter if you are in need of guidance or harbouring a thirst for facts, figures and technicalities.
The first couple of chapters focus on the basics, i.e. on what is the essence of whisk(e)y, the "story behind it grains, how whiskey is made, et cetera. What makes the book different from the myriad of other tomes on the subject is that it is written to teach you to taste whiskey.
There are dedicated chapters on tasting whiskey with literally all of your sense, only to then evolve to elaborating on how to compare the tastes of various variants of whisk( e )y, i.e. Scotch, Irish, bourbons, rye and so forth along with chapters on tasting from different regions of Scotland, Ireland, the United States, Japan, other parts of Asia, and most interestingly other areas around the world.
While it does not exactly go into meticulous depth on any of the respective topics, this is an excellent tome for readers who have a newfound love for or want to nourish their existing knowledge on whisky, provided in a simple, clear, and informative manner.
Best thing is that once you have read, you are very likely to find yourself revisiting some of your staple go-to drops in your cabinet to test out and verify what you have learned, and chances are that you will come to them with a new appreciation and a heightened ability to detect smells and tastes.
No matter if you love whisky and are an expert or a curious novice, I would heartily recommend it.
