A pictorial record of the Scottish distilling industry and its development. The text approaches the subject from a predominantly visual viewpoint, making use of the extensive photographic archives held by many distilling companies and other related organizations. As such, it should appeal to the whisky connoisseur and expert who has previously only encountered occasional "archive" pictures in more general whisky books. The photographs have been chosen by a leading whisky writer with an extensive knowledge of Scottish social history, and his accompanying captions enhance and explore the pictures which illuminate the process of whisky production from a small-scale, largely farm-based business into one of Scotland's leading export earners and most internationally identifiable products.

Scotch Whisky

Business & Money

Smith, Gavin D.

Economics

Sutton Pub Ltd

This pictorial history of brewing and selling beer from the south of England to the north of Scotland, looking behind the scenes at some of the most famous breweries in the land.

British Brewing (Britain in Old Photographs)

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Sutton Publishing

Providing hundreds of detailed tasting notes and an exploration of the story of whiskey told through in-depth distillery entries, Whiskey Opus helps seasoned connoisseurs in their quest to discover the world's best whiskies. 
Every whiskey style from single malt to poteen is represented, along with tips and tricks for recognizing and appreciating each one. With great whiskeys being produced all over the world, Whiskey Opus covers a range of distilleries, from Banffshire to Bangalore, Scotland to Spain, and Kentucky to Japan — providing whiskey lovers with everything they need to know to fully appreciate their favorite spirit.

Whiskey Opus

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Roskrow, Dominic

Diebel, Juergen

de Kergommeaux, Davin

Beverages & Wine

The world's best-selling book on malt whisky, now updated to include all the latest significant bottlings.
This seventh edition of Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch continues to provide whisky enthusiasts with all the information, advice, and guidance they need to improve their knowledge and appreciation of single malt whisky.
Fully updated with all the latest significant bottlings, Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch includes an unrivaled A– Z of single malts with background information on the distilleries and tasting notes for more than 1,000 bottlings. It even provides each whisky with an overall score. Michael Jackson, regarded as the world's foremost authority on whisky until his death in 2007, originally authored this title. His legacy lives on in the 2015 edition edited by world-leading whisky consultants Dominic Roskrow and Gavin D. Smith.
By giving practical advice on buying and collecting malts and interpreting whisky labels, and providing hundreds of color images, Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch can turn any whisky novice into an informed veteran.

Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch: A Connoisseur’s Guide to the Single Malt Whiskies of Scotland

Pilsners, blonde ales, India pale ales, lagers, porters, stouts: the varieties and styles of beer are endless. But as diverse as the drink is, its appeal is universal―beer is the most-consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. From ballparks to restaurants, bars to brewpubs, this multihued beverage has made itself a dietary staple around the globe. Celebrating the heritage of these popular libations in this entertaining tome, Gavin D. Smith traces beer from its earliest days to its contemporary consumption. While exploring the evolution of brewing technology and how it mirrors technological changes on a wider economic scale, Smith travels from Mexico to Milwaukee, Beijing, Bruges, and beyond to give a legion of beer brands their due. He then delves into the growth of beer-drinking culture and food-beer pairings and provides information on beer-related museums, festivals, publications, and websites. He also provides a selection of recipes that will be enhanced with the downing of a glass or two of the amber nectar. Containing a wealth of detail in its concise, wonderfully illustrated pages, Beer will appeal to connoisseurs and casual fans alike.

Beer: A Global History (Edible)

Reaktion Books

The Secret Still is the most comprehensive book ever devoted to Scottish illicit distilling. It examines the historical events and legislation that gave rise to and sustained its boom years, during which the Scottish countryside, and even city centres, teemed with 'sma' stills' and were awash with whisky which had been distilled without payment of excise duty.Using an innovative blend of formal documentation, apocryphal tales and oral history, acclaimed whisky writer Gavin D. Smith follows the fortunes of the illicit distillers as successive governments tried to prevent them from plying their trade, describing their manufacture, transportation and eventual consumption of the product of Scotland's clandestine stills.The book covers all areas of Scotland in which illicit distilling took place, and also looks at legal distilleries which had their origins in the illicit trade, including famous names such as Highland Park and Lagavulin. The result is a fascinating glimpse into an activity that was a major factor in Scotland's black economy until the second half of the nineteenth century.

The Secret Still

Birlinn Ltd.

This is the first book to examine the phenomena of smuggling in Scotland in its entirety. It embraces the historical imperatives that made smuggling lucrative, particularly during its 18th century "golden age," looking at the roll of the Act of Union (1707) and Jacobitism in the encouragement and perpetuation of the Scottish smuggling trade. A special chapter is devoted to whisky smuggling, which even embraces the true tale of Whisky Galore and the topic of US Prohibition.

Scottish Smugglers

History

Europe

Many books have been written about The Lake Poets - those Romantic geniuses led by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who made their homes in the beautiful north-west corner of England known as The Lake District during the first half of the nineteenth century. Some of these volumes have concentrated on their writing, others on their lives, and yet more have focused on places within the Lake District with which they were associated. Gavin D. Smith's The Lake Poets provides an indispensible 'one-stop shop' for anyone with an interest in the subject, offering biography, selections of work and an exploration of properties with literary associations. Gavin has also chosen to widen the traditional membership of the school of 'Lake Poets' to include William's sister Dorothy Wordsworth, Samuel's son Hartley Coleridge, and Thomas de Quincey. Apart from presenting an overview of The Lake Poets and their work, one aim of this book is to provide an opportunity for readers to discover more about writers like Robert Southey and Hartley Coleridge, who have been neglected in recent years, and whose writing is frequently difficult to find in print.

The Lake Poets

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Amberley Publishing

Whisky is the world’s favourite spirit and is enjoying booming sales, especially in the USA and Asia, yet too often it’s shrouded in mystery, myth and complex-sounding terminology. This authoritative beginner’s guide cuts straight through all of this, with simple advice on how to seek out and enjoy the immense diversity of flavours and styles on offer.The book covers not just famous Highland malts, Irish pot still whiskeys and American bourbons, but also whiskies from South East Asia, Japan and Canada, as well as whiskies from many other producing countries, ranging from Wales through to Taiwan. There is advice on how to nose, taste and savour, how to organize a whisky tasting, which glassware to use, as well as a selection of classic whisky cocktails and advice on matching food and whisky. This is a true beginner’s guide providing a clear insight into the modern world of whisky in a way that’s never been done before.

Let Me Tell You About Whisky: Taste, try & enjoy whisky from around the world

Ridley, Neil

Pavilion Books

These are the memoirs of one of Scotland's best known whisky distillers and cover his time in the industry from 1963 until the present day. In that time John McDougall has worked in some of Scotland's most famous distilleries in Speyside, Ayrshire, Islay and Campbeltown as well as holding head office posts in Glasgow before setting up his own whisky brokering business based in Kelso. These memoirs are all about the characters that John has dealt with in the many differing places he has worked and portray as complete a picture of the distillery shop floor, the stillroom and the mashroom and the changes that have been made in them over the past 35 years as possible. Co-authored by whisky authority Gavin D. Smith (A-Z of Whisky) this revealing evocation of the true goings-on in the whisky trade will delight and surprise anyone with an interest in the subject.

Wort, Worms and Washbacks

McDougall, John

Biography & History

Neil Wilson Pub Ltd

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Books by Smith, Gavin D.