An accessible and jargon-free guide to understanding, learning how to taste and appreciating Scotch whisky, by the founder of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society

As with fine wines, there is a social cachet in being able to `appreciate' a good Scotch. But how exactly do you learn this skill? Where can you acquire the knowledge to join this whisky-appreciating elite?

The answer is Appreciating Whisky. This beautifully illustrated book offers the reader detailed, structured tuition on how to develop his or her palate for whisky. Readers are first taken on a detailed tour of how whisky is produced, what each of its constituents and each of the stages of its manufacture bring to the final product. With this grounding, they are then introduced to the various chemical processes at work during distillation and maturation that give each whisky its distinct characteristics.

Using specific popular whiskies which readers are encouraged to have to hand as they work through the book, they are taught how to recognise what it is they are tasting and smelling, and how to describe this in the language of the experts. Armed with this knowledge, readers will ultimately be able to develop their own informed impressions of the whisky they drink, rather than receive them second-hand from other books.

Packed with diagrams and illustrations, this is the definitive guide for the aspiring whisky buff.