[Books] The world atlas of Whisky (2nd edition 2014) - Dave Broom

When I started properly getting into whisky a couple of years ago, I decided to look online for a book about it. If you look around several websites (amazon in particular) you will come across many different books, from Ian Buxton's 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die to Malt Whisky: The Complete Guide by Charles MacLean, to Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky Companion. The one I decided to go for is The World Atlas of Whisky by Dave Broom, the 2nd edition. Why? Well because to me, this book is a bit of a reference as you get pretty much everything you need to know about whisky in one place. 

It starts with an introduction about what whisky is and explains the different production methods (malt, grain, single pot still, Kentucky and Tennesse). Then you get more detail about flavour profiles and tasting before reaching a map of Scotland. After that, the rest of the book is divided into regions (Speyside, Highlands, Lowlands, Islay, Islands, Campbeltown) and other countries (Ireland, Japan, the USA, Canada and the rest of the world). In each of these sections, you are first presented with a very useful map before discovering the different distilleries and some of the whisky they produce with their tasting notes (including the new make for most of them). It doesn't have every single release but it gives you a good idea of the type of spirit produced by each distillery.

I am not saying that this is the ultimate whisky book but if you are setting off on your own whisky journey, it is a very handy companion to have around.