A Field Guide to Whisky

A Field Guide to Whisky, a review of the book by whisky expert Hans Offringa

I was lucky enough to spend a few days on Orkney with Hans Offringa and was amazed by his encyclopedic knowledge of whisky and other spirits. So I’m delighted that he’s now put some of that knowledge at our disposal by writing this Field Guide to Whisky, sub-titled: An Expert Compendium to Take Your Passion and Knowledge to the Next Level.

The book is certainly a compendium, and an encyclopedia, at 320 pages long. It’s got solid covers and the pages are edged in black to give it a classy and unusual look when it’s closed.

Just as a field guide to birds or mushrooms lists everything known to exist, this book covers whisky in the same way. It includes 323 short entries telling you the basics of everything you need to know about whisky. It’s described as being for whisky connoisseurs, but it’s also for would-be whisky connoisseurs, enabling you to talk knowingly about mash tuns and Coffey stills.

Here and there you’ll find quotations from whisky lovers such as Mark Twain, Raymond Chandler and someone who really loved his whisky, William Faulkner, who declared that “Civilization begins with distillation.”

What is Whisky?

The first short section (‘What is Whisky?’) answers questions like:

Why is Whisky Spelled With and Without an E?
Which Country Produces the Most Whisky?
Is Older Whisky Better Than Younger Whisky?
Can Anybody Make Whisky?

The book then goes on to discuss whisky around the world, how the whisky gets from grain to glass, bottles and barrels, how to taste whisky, how to invest in whisky and a fun section on whisky trivia.

Read the book through and you will learn a fascinating amount of detail about the making and drinking of whisky. You’ll learn what it is that makes you think you’re smelling, say, banana when you’re sniffing a whisky. You’ll learn the origins of brands like Cutty Sark and J&B. The book also covers such topics as whisky trails, whisky festivals and some of the great whisky bars the author has discovered on his worldwide travels.

Maps

The final chapter lists whisky distilleries, with maps of where they are. Of course you’ll need proper road maps or GPS to find them, and the only problem with this section is how quickly it will date given that new distilleries are opening all the time. The section kicks off with Scotland and Ireland, then England and Wales.

Next is the USA, where you have to be selective as there are just too many. I was disappointed to see only two listed for Colorado. I recently visited one of these, Stranahan’s, but there are now over fifty distilleries in the state, some of them making some fine whiskey. The author does stress, though, that it’s a non-exhaustive list and he’s limited himself to the best-known names.

The final maps are for whisky distilleries in Canada and Japan, which means that he’s covered the world’s main whisky nations. Elsewhere in the book, though, he discusses whisky production in an A-Z of countries from Austria to Wales, via places such as Turkey and Iceland, which you don’t associate with whisky.

The Author

Hans Offringa lives partly in the Netherlands and partly in South Carolina. He is also an Honorary Scotsman and a Kentucky Colonel, thanks to his knowledge of and passion for whisky. He’s the Contributing Editor for Europe for Whisky Magazine, a lecturer at the International Whisky School in the Netherlands and has been given the rare honour of being made a Keeper of the Quaich. He and his wife, Becky Lovett Offringa, are known together as the Whisky Couple and have been judges at the Dutch Whisky Awards ever since they began.

Hans Offringa, author of A Field Guide to Whisky — Hans Offringa. Photo (c) The Whisky Couple

Photos

The book is illustrated with 230 colour photos, the vast majority of them taken by the author or his wife. They not only show you what good photographers they are, adding to the beauty of the book, it also shows you Hans has acquired his knowledge because he’s actually visited all these places!

The Verdict

There’s nothing much more to say about this book other than buy it, if you love your whisky. It covers everything, would make a handsome present for someone and the author presents even complex subjects in an easy-to-read and relaxed style.