The Malt Whisky Yearbook 2017 is here. Ingvar Ronde’s annual whisky book is the most up-to-date overview of what is happening in the whisky industry. This 11th edition sticks to the known format and that is a good thing.
This is an overview of the in-depth articles:
- Going with the Grain by Gavin D Smith, looking at the growing category of ‘sipping’ grain whisky
- Watch Out! The Millenials (sic) are coming by Neil Ridley. I can’t say I had picked it up, but apparently ‘millennials’ seems to be a buzzword in the whisky industry. A new generation of whisky drinkers is redefining the market. Haig Club and such. This must be the first time I can spot a spelling mistake in the title of a Whisky Yearbook article…
- Malts of no Nation by Becky Paskin. A look at distilleries in all corners of the world, their unique selling points, new categories in the US, new single malt appelations…
- Swan Neck Vapour Trails by Jonny McCormick, a celebration of the wonderful thing that is the copper pot still.
- Global Giant Diageo by Charles McLean. This article examines the first 20 years of Diageo’s history after the UDV and DCL merger. The rise of single malts and Johnnie Walker are two of the highlights.
- Whisky pricing, the elephant in the room by Ian Buxton. No one wants to mention this topic in polite company. Another look at whisky shortage, NAS releases and the golden age of whisky in general.
After that, the Malt Whisky Yearbook 2017 will give you the usual overview of distilleries, each with a short history, capacity, their recent bottlings and loads of facts and figures. You will also find chapters on the whisky market as a whole (trends and statistics), lists of whisky shops and interesting whisky blogs (ahum).
One small remark would be the list of independent bottlers. Of course this subject is very dear to me, but I think the list is slightly disjointed. A few very small bottlers seem to be pushed forward whereas others who are bigger (or more interesting in my opinion) aren’t mentioned or only get one small paragraph. Sure, it’s not an easy job, but I think this list deserves a better balance (and maybe a different format) in the next edition.
All in all: what a joy to read, year after year! If you’re looking for technical data: it’s there. If you’re into well-informed articles: check. If you’re simply looking to discover new drams or distilleries, that’s also fine. If you haven’t done so already, order a copy. This is simply an essential whisky book.
300 pages – ISBN 9780957655331 – Magdig Media Ltd
Around € 17
Whisky Pricing: the elephant in the room. Suck it up or move on. An interesting article on the skyrocketing prices of whisky.
The State of Scotch. Whisky insiders answer the same six burning questions about NAS, chill-filtration, transparency in the whisky industry and more.
Typically all whisky distilleries are covered in this book, including the closed distilleries and distilleries around the globe. There’s also a section on start-up distilleries.