Michael Jackson’s Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch / Updated by Dominic Roskrow and Gavin D. Smith PDF
Preview Michael Jackson’s Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch / Updated by Dominic Roskrow and Gavin D. Smith
MICHAEL JACKSON’S Complete Guide to SINGLE MALT SCOTCH A CONNOISSEUR’S GUIDE TO THE SINGLE MALT WHISKIES OF SCOTLAND UPDATED BY DOMINIC ROSKROW AND GAVIN D. SMITH Y RE L V L I 7 LT • BLENDED MALT • SINGLE CASK U t h S E• SINGLE BARREL • CASK STRENGTH BARRELS • FINISHED IN SHERRY BUTTS • DOUBLE WOOD • THREE WOODS F D TTISH OAK • JAPANESE OAK • LOWLAND MALT • ISLAND MALT • HIGHLAND MALT LIGHTLY PEATED • HEAVILY PEATED • • DOUBLE DISTILLED • TRIPLE DIS • N E O DIT I MICHAEL JACKSON’S Complete Guide to SINGLE MALT SCOTCH MICHAEL JACKSON’S Complete Guide to SINGLE MALT SCOTCH UPDATED BY DOMINIC ROSKROW AND GAVIN D. SMITH DK INDIA Senior Editor Dorothy Kikon Senior Art Editor Balwant Singh Deputy Managing Editor Bushra Ahmed Managing Editor Alicia Ingty Managing Art Editor Navidita Thapa Senior DTP Designer Neeraj Bhatia DTP Designer Manish Chandra Upreti Pre-production Manager Sunil Sharma DK UK US Editor Jane Perlmutter US Senior Editor Shannon Beatty Managing Editor Dawn Henderson Managing Art Editor Christine Keilty Senior Jacket Creative Nicola Powling Producer, Pre-production Rebecca Fallowfield Category Publisher Peggy Vance First American edition published by Running Press, 1989 A Penguin Random House Company This revised edition published in the United States in 2015 by Dorling Kindersley Limited 15 16 17 18 19 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 001-193006-September/2015 Copyright © 1989, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2010, 2015 Dorling Kindersley Limited Text copyright © 1989, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2010, 2015 Michael Jackson, 2015 The Estate of Michael Jackson All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permissions of the copyright owners. Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited. A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 978-1-4654-3798-3 DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 [email protected] Printed and bound in China All images © Dorling Kindersley Limited A WORLD OF IDEAS: SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW www.dk.com CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: MICHAEL JACKSON’S LEGACY 6 WHY MALTS?: AN INSTANT GUIDE THE PLEASURES OF THE PURSUIT 12 THE ORIGINS OF MALT WHISKY 16 THE LANGUAGE OF THE LABEL 22 FLAVORS: THE INFLUENCE OF THE LANDSCAPE 28 REGIONAL VARIATIONS SCOTLAND 46 EVOLUTION OF WORLD WHISKIES 56 AGED TO PERFECTION 60 THE PERFECT WOOD 64 A–Z OF SINGLE MALTS 70–351 UNSPECIFIED MALTS 352 BLENDED MALTS 355 CLOSED DISTILLERIES 366 NEW WORLD WHISKY 392 FURTHER READING & RESOURCES 442 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 443 INDEX 444 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION MICHAEL JACKSON’S LEGACY THE SEVENTH EDITION of this Companion, first published more than a quarter of a century ago, coincides with what is arguably the most dynamic, diverse, and purely exciting time in the history of whisky. The Scotch whisky industry is booming, with many existing distilleries being expanded, and a plethora of fledgling and start-up distilling ventures being developed, in a wide variety of locations. The youthful ‘‘make’’ of some of these distilleries will no doubt make its way into the eighth edition. There have, however, been boom times for Scotch whisky in the past, just as there has for Irish, bourbon, and rye. What makes the present situation so different is the increasing number of countries 6 MICHAEL JACKSON’S LEGACY around the world that have little or no tradition of making whisky, but which are now developing whisky industries of their own on varying scales. In the past, consumers in these countries might have drunk whisky, but now they are making their own. And when it comes to single malts, this edition embraces the best and most interesting, just as it does with Scotch malts. The aim throughout is not to be inclusive, as there are now simply too many expressions of malt whisky available, but to be selective and representative, and feature whiskies that readers should be able to locate and sample for themselves. Due attention has been paid to malt whiskies exclusive to the burgeoning travel retail sector. Were Michael Jackson with us today, it seems certain that he would have embraced the ‘‘world of whisky’’ with his customary thirst for knowledge and new experiences, boarding planes for Tasmania or Taiwan, just as he once did for Aberdeen and the distilling delights of nearby Speyside or Louisville, and the whiskey jewels of Kentucky. THE MAN HIMSELF Nothing remains the same for very long, and as time passes a new generation is discovering Michael’s work for the first time. So it seems appropriate to offer for their benefit, some brief biographical information on the man whose name graces this book. As cold, hard facts rarely do anyone full justice, we have also invited a number of people professionally associated with whisky and whisky making, who knew Michael well, to offer some personal reminiscences about him. To begin with the cold, hard facts, Michael was born in Wetherby, Yorkshire, on March 27, 1942, and brought up in nearby Leeds, where his family moved after the war. His father was a Lithuanian Jew who had changed his name from Jakowitz when the family migrated to Yorkshire. Michael began his career in journalism on the Huddersfield Examiner, and as the beer writer Roger Protz noted in his Guardian obituary of Michael in September 2007, “Jackson’s writing style was deeply influenced by his early journalism—short sentences shorn of adornment.” Moving to London, Michael wrote his first book, The English Pub, published in 1976, followed a year later by The World Guide to Beer, which set a benchmark for the subject and became a much reprinted classic. Turning to whisky, the first edition of this best-selling Companion was published in 1989, and since then, various other titles followed. 7 INTRODUCTION The whisky legend THE WHISKY INDUSTRY is full of wonderful characters whose talents are matched only by their modesty. Michael, as unpretentious and unassuming as the characters he met and interviewed, was the perfect person to bring their talents to a wider audience. He built bridges within the industry, linking whisky makers and whisky devotees around the world. He gave us access to the world's great distilleries, and the people who create great whisky within them. AT HEART, MICHAEL was a traditionalist. His values harked back to a time when the pace of life was slower and more considered. He fought with quiet determination to preserve the things he loved, and saw as threatened. He wrote for Slowfood magazine, eschewed marketing terms such as “brand” and “product,” and had little time for the insincerity and disposability of modern consumerism. On the subjects of both beer and whisky, Michael was one of the first commentators to really address issues of flavor and diversity, and paved the way for so much that has subsequently been written about alcohol. He was responsible for developing and refining regional classifications for malt whiskies, and wrote extensively and perceptively for the first time about the distilleries within those classifications. His reputation and influence were truly global. He died of a heart attack on August 30, 2007, having suffered from Parkinson’s disease for the previous 10 years. THIS EDITION As in the sixth edition, we have attempted to remain faithful to Michael’s traditional values, modesty, and positivity. He was respectful and careful about what he said and how he said it. He held the view that there were very few bad malt whiskies, and sought to find something positive about all of them, or to say nothing at all. He set about his tasting notes with almost scientific precision, describing the flavors he encountered while avoiding subjective indulgences. We have also tried to be as true to Michael’s precise and frugal writing style as possible, and to score whiskies in the same way as he did. This hasn’t been easy because scoring is highly subjective, and each of us found malts in the old editions that we would have scored differently from Michael. When scoring other malts from the same distillery, were we to give them the score we felt they justified, or align them with Michael’s other scores? We went with the latter approach. 8
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