Beginner's Guide to Whiskey: Traditions, Types, and Tastes of the Ultimate Spirit is a nonfiction book by Sam Green. It shares whiskey's rich history, the detailed process from grain to glass, the main types of brown liquor, and, of course, the fine art of savoring handcrafted whiskey.

Beginner's Guide to Whiskey is an accessible guide to the history, varieties, making, drinking, and meal pairing of whiskey. I have been fascinated by whiskey for years, but am not a big drinker and have been intimidated by the varieties with no clear idea of where to start exploring whiskey without wasting time or money. This guide explained the differences between how the difference types are made, and in turn how they vary in taste. I really liked the charts at the end of each chapter giving some suggests as to where to start and what they each taste like. Making cocktails, and pairing drinks with food are covered as well, which I found helpful. I think i specifically liked the accessible narrative tone of the writing, and the reassurance that there is no wrong way to drink whiskey. Drink what you like, responsibly of course, and enjoy it. Neat, on the rocks, with water, or as part of a cocktail- the important part is finding what you enjoy and doing so is what matters.

Beginner's Guide to Whiskey is a well written, researched guide with suggestions that have put a few things on my mental shopping list.

I’m a bit of whiskey geek. I’m not necessarily a whiskey snob, as I’ll usually drink whatever scotch, bourbon, rye, or Irish that is put in front me. However, I love touring the local distilleries when I travel, and I ask all the geeky questions about sourcing, mash bills, barrel chars, and so on. I’ve blogged about my whiskey travels to share what I’ve learned. I also love to read books about whiskey itself and about vintage cocktails, which often use whiskey. The most recent whiskey book that I read was Fred Minnick’s Bourbon Curious, which was half narrative and half catalogue of bourbons common and rare.

Even though I’m likely beyond the beginner level, I decided to read this book because the publisher’s blurb promised “The Beginner’s Guide to Whiskey is the best way to become a true aficionado without taking a mixology masterclass.” Based on this statement, I truly believed that this book would be as in depth as Minnick’s but with a broader scope that included all types of whiskeys. However, when I discovered that the main text of the book was less than seventy pages of text (excluding the glossary, the acknowledgments, and the author biography at the back), I started to feel a little skeptical. My skepticism only increased when, in the first half dozen lines of the Introduction, the author announced that he only had six years of experience with whiskey because he was only twenty-seven years old at the time of publication.

In the Introduction, the author states that his goal for the book is to share his zeal for whiskey by teaching the reader as much or as little as they would like to learn about whiskey. However, the history of whiskey was condensed into just four pages: monks invented it in 1000 CE because a England had a surfeit of grain; the American Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 saw things get violent and people get hurt; American Prohibition from 1920 to 1933 shuttered many Irish distilleries; World War II diverted distilleries to industrial production; whiskey appreciation and demand recovered in the late 20th century. Likewise, the geography of whiskey was also condensed into about half a dozen pages - with no maps! The two chapters about whiskey production were the best in the book. The author provided a general level of detail about what each process was and how it impacted flavor; however, these chapters lacked specific examples of what well-known distilleries do at certain steps to distinguish their products. The six chapters that discussed specific regional whiskeys (the big five plus an odd chapter about craft whiskey) were as about high level as the chapter about the geography of whiskey. The big five chapters began with a map of the country, but didn’t highlight the important whiskey geography on that map. It was more like, here’s the shape of Scotland so you can recognize it if you need to. Each of the big five chapters ended with a nine square grid of whiskeys and their tasting notes: three inexpensive selections, three affordable selections, and three expensive selections. However, there was no legend or key to give a price range for the three classifications, so it’s impossible to know whether what the author thinks is “affordable” actually fits in your price range. And there was no such grid for the craft chapter, despite the numerous craft distilleries across the United States. The penultimate chapter - how to drink and taste whiskey - was breezy and very high level. It did provide more detail on some fairly unimportant topics, like glassware. After saying that glassware didn’t matter, there were almost two pages about how Glencairn and D&L designed special whiskey glasses. I did appreciate the five recipes that were included - three of them were classics and one was a modern classic. The final chapter on pairing whiskey was painful to read because it was just so basic. Each type of whiskey had one or two basic food pairing suggestions: Irish whisky goes with dessert, bourbon pairs well with maple syrup, Japanese whisky complements sushi and sashimi. Overall, nothing too new or exciting.

The author was very up front in the Introduction that his book catered to those who are just embarking on their whiskey journeys. It is to them whom I would recommend this book. It cannot be faulted for the breadth of topics that it covered. Unfortunately, the depth isn’t there. You can easily learn the majority of what’s in this book by just visiting a craft bourbon (or other whiskey) distillery and being curious with your questions. That definitely would be more fun!

A Cheerful, Very Basic Intro

The title emphasizes "Beginner's Guide", but the splashy blurb promises a "Master Class". Well, this book is very much entry level. Parts of it are brief and cryptic enough, (example - types of Scotch, or main Scotch producing regions), that you might not understand them if you didn't already know what the author was trying to describe.

That said, the tone is cheerful and conversational. Since the point is to give the reader a very broad overview, that worked fine. The book is strongest when providing an overview of the distillation/production process, and by the time you're done you'll know the different levels of char for aging barrels, and really understand the difference between pot stills and column distillation. The book is also helpful in distinguishing among types of whiskeys, and in describing variations within each type. (So, why is Scotch whisky Scotch whisky, and what's the difference between Islay and Speyside.) Necessarily, this part is broad and not too deep.

Once we get to different brands and taste profiles the reader is pretty much on his own. Why is Glenmorangie better than Glenfiddich? Well, no Scotch drinker wants to be told what to like or not like. Wisely, our author doesn't go down that road, and doesn't try to compare brands or distillers, preferring rather to send his reader/students off on field trips of their own with just some gentle guidance about flavor profiles and tasting notes, and advice to follow your heart.

There is cheerful advice about how to taste whiskey, how to read labels, and so on, which would probably be very helpful to a newbie. The cocktail recipes and notes about food pairing seemed to be a bit of fill, but they will get you thinking about such things, which is valuable enough.

So, all in all this was a fun read, with some interesting tidbits and a reasonable range. The author certainly did a fine job of introducing the landscape, (including some out of the way places, like Japanese whiskey), and since that is what he promised I was a happy reader.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)