So I like to drink whisky, not Jack Daniels or Johnny Walker Red Label, whisky. Also I have been to Scotland not too long ago. Therefor I was surprised to find a newly published book (september 2013) that combines these two subjects. Moreover, I know the author from years back. In any case, “Freedom and Whisky” gives a history of Scotland and where possible, the author presents a whisky bottle or label that is somehow linked with the subject. This can be a distillery that was inspired by the Picts for style (Balblair) or the bottle of one of their whiskies (Glenmorangie Signet), a distillery or whisky named after an historical character (many examples) or a whisky commemorating a historic event (also several examples). All in all a history of Scotland going from about 79 CE upto only a few decades ago. Also you get some 150 labels and bottles sometimes with lighted-up information. Of course, when the author reaches the time that whisky was distilled in Scotland, you will also learn a thing or two about the history of the ‘water of life’.
The book is not (yet) very well available, but you can get it from the author (click on the cover), the Dutch whisky magazine Whisky Passion and a growing number of book- and liquor shops. Hopefully regular bookshops will follow soon. The book is written in Dutch, I do not know if there are plans for an English version, but the author is an internationally known whisky author and organiser and he needed some of those international contacts to get all the labels that he wanted to use, so who knows…?
2013 Lord Of The Drams, isbn 9789082108002