Beginner's Guide to Whiskey: Traditions, Types & Tastes of the Ultimate Spirit Paperback – April 7, 2020

This book is brilliant for the casual whiskey enthusiast who wants to become a more informed fan. Sam Green presents an all encompassing, easy to digest, highly informative while still being novice accessible guide that lays down the basics of whiskey..how it’s made..regions and styles...brilliant anecdotes. I have been involved in the bar business for 20 plus years. And I am a crazed bourbon fan....what Sam does so succinctly in this book is what I have been trying to teach my guests for years. He does it better then I have been able to. This book is an absolute must for any fan of whiskey. It is a perfect gift for any of you that don’t know what to buy your friend that really likes whiskey....but more then that it is a perfect step to introduce the people who may by intimidated but want to try and...also learn about whiskey. This is the crutch you need to get you off the starting line and into the race. For hard core aficionados the knowledge on this book is relatively basic and won’t teach you much you don’t know...but for me...I bought one for my wife so she can understand why I have 400plus open bottles in my bar garage and we can start to drink them together now that she has a vested interest in learning. The one thing about this book. It will make you wanna try some whiskey. Kudos to the author. An absolute must have book for any whiskey fan.

While there are many books about whiskey, this one completely strikes the appropriate tone for someone fairly new to the exploration of whiskey. Avoiding academic language and references to unknown concepts, it acquaints the reader with whiskey using a conversational tone and everyday terminology.The author has a voice and a viewpoint, and shares insights based on his own experiences that illuminate the various topics beyond dry facts. It's an easy and pleasurable read, and the whiskey novice will end up with a solid knowledge of whiskey that should give them the confidence to accelerate their exploration.

Liquor aficionados and casual fans can all benefit by knowing more about what they drink. With different regulations, customs, etc each bottle of booze is labeled in specific ways and its contents is controlled in certain ways that are likely to go well beyond one’s intuitive observations. It is best to get educated and lovers of whiskey can begin their knowledge journey with the Beginner’s Guide to Whiskey: Traditions, Types & Tastes of the Ultimate Spirit.With this guide, the reader gets a quick walk- through of whiskey history, whiskey lingo, whiskey rules and regulations around the world, and whiskey processing. The reader is introduced to the major whiskey producing regions of the world and learns exactly what makes certain whiskies taste the way they do, why certain whiskies must be aged, where different style of whisky originate, etc.I’m more versed on beer than anything else, but whiskey is my liquor of choice and since my knowledge is limited, I figured a book like Beginner’s Guide to Whiskey would be a good way to improve my whiskey IQ. I got a copy of this book complimentary from the publisher for my unbiased viewpoint and I set out to see what I could learn. Was there more to whisky than meets the eye? What makes Tennessee whiskey taste the way it does? Any book that can help me learn something new is a winner to me and so I approached this book from an angle of knowledge, anxious to see what I could gain.Now that I have completed reading the Beginner’s Guide to Whiskey, I can say that I am certainly all the wiser about my favorite type of liquor. I did not know, for example, the precise process that gives Tennessee whiskey its distinction. I also did not know that Canadian whiskey can legally be flavored and artificially colored up to an exact percentage limit. And I didn’t know that Japanese law permits whiskey to be imported from another country, bottled in Japan, and then labeled as Japanese whiskey. It was great to gain so much knowledge from such a short book.Beginners Guide to Whiskey walks you through the proper way to taste whiskey, the best glassware in which to serve, and so on. There are some drink recipes, too, but only 5 of them total. I would have preferred more recipes overall and it would have also been helpful to see more photos of actual whiskey, glassware, etc. The book is mostly comprised of drawings for its illustrations, which isn’t really the best way to showcase booze.Whiskey holds a special place in my heart. It is my favorite type of liquor and I’m always up for improving my knowledge about the booze I love the best. Beginner’s Guide to Whiskey did, indeed, raise my whiskey IQ by many points and I came away from the reading armed with important knowledge that will improve my future drinking experiences. More illustrations and recipes would be better, but this is still a good guide for beginning whiskey aficionados and it’s a book I recommend.

This book is a very enjoyable read. The author is engaging, passionate and extremely knowledgeable. It teaches you all aspects of whiskey, from history, to varieties, to distillation and most importantly to drinking. It’s great for beginners but also enjoyable to those of us that have spent more than a few hours in a bar stool. A must have for any whiskey enthusiast!

I gave this to my husband with about 20 different sample sizes of whiskey (no flavors, wide variety) for him to taste and learn with a few extras. As a novice, he really enjoyed the book and learning more about whiskey!

Really enjoyed the whole book !! The author's writing style and explanations made the book very enjoyable to read and learn about whiskey distillation.