If you have even a passing interest in single malts, you need this book. Buy it now. And don't let your friends swipe your copy, even though they'll want to.


Authoritative   January 19, 1999
Jackson's book is the best of the lot. He brings a love of fine whisky to bear with no pre-established perceptions. Kyle Wallace


A compact, yet suprisingly complete guide to scotch whisky   September 5, 1998
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Mr. Jackson has arranged a concise and easy to use encyclopedia for scotch whisky. The inclusion of over 300 malts has made it difficult for me to find a bottle that he has not listed, tasted, and graded. However; I derive the most pleasure from his descriptions of the hamlets, towns and hollows that surround the distilleries. A brief description of the malting process, and some history of scotch whisky, make this a good starting point for a novice taster. I am dismayed to see that it is out of print as I have found it to be a fine gift that has been appreciated by friends.


If I could only buy one book about Single Malts, this would be the one.   April 2, 1998
Although some have said that the practice of assigning a numerical rating scale to single malts is overgeneralizing and therefore inaccurate, I find it to be a useful guide and at least a valuable insight into the mind of someone who is known to be one of the world's foremost experts on single malts. True, rating single malts from 0-100 is sometimes akin to comparing diverse items such as a sunset, a Picaso, a good cup of coffee. Nonetheless, for the novice, this book offers tremendous insight. It describes the majority of house styles of all the distilleries, and provides a good brief history and explanation of the malting, brewing, distillation and aging processes necessary to create fluid works of art. A MUST for the novice single malt taster and the discriminating imbiber . My copy is worn, torn, dog-eared and used daily.


*THE* book to own on single malts   August 10, 1997
If you only buy one book on single malts, buy this one. All are rated (out of 100). There is a listing of all the distilleries, and their addresses and phone numbers, if you want to visit. There is an excellent introduction about whiskey production, history and a map that shows the locations of all the distilleries. I've had this book for 2 years now, and it is my personal reference to single malts. I find that my tastes agree pretty much with Michael's, and have shared my favorite (Talisker), with a couple of friends, who have also made it their favorite.