Scotch Whisky

by David Daiches

Excellent Book

Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

David Daiches was a Scottish literary historian and literary critic, scholar and writer. He wrote extensively on English literature, Scottish literature and Scottish culture.

He was born in Sunderland, into a Jewish family with a Lithuanian background - the subject of his 1956 memoir, Two Worlds: An Edinburgh Jewish Childhood. He moved to Edinburgh while still a young child, about the end of World War I, where his father, Rev. Dr. Salis Daiches was rabbi to Edinburgh's Jewish community. He studied at George Watson's College and won a scholarship to University of Edinburgh where he won the Elliot prize. He went to Oxford where he became the Elton exhibitioner, and was elected Fellow of Balliol College in 1936.

During World War II, he worked for the British Embassy in Washington, DC, producing pamphlets for the British Information Service and drafting speeches on British institutions and foreign policy.

Daiches' first published work was The Place of Meaning in Poetry, published in 1935. He was a prolific writer, producing works on English literature, Scottish literature, literary history and criticism as well as the broader role of literature in society and culture.

Daiches was the father of Jenni Calder, also a Scottish literary historian.

Reviews

[Erich · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the book might be dated, I gave it 5 stars as I think this is the only book on whisky that I will ever need to read. It gave me great history on the distilling process of single malts and a great background on the blending of single malts and grain whisky and a lifetime's list of Scots whisky to drink and enjoy. Turns out the Scottish tax evaders were precursors to our own moonshiners. I've not been a big whisky drinker this far, preferring the home grown whiskey, but have gone out in the last week and bought a peaty Islay and a smooth North East Coast Highland single malt, both of which I've enjoyed applying my new found knowledge. I thought it quaint his description of American palates from the 1950s etc. preferring a 'light' alcohol. While we haven't completely overcome that stereotype (with the plethora of tasteless vodkas available here these days), it's nice to see we've turned it around the last few decades with craft beers, craft whiskey distillers and craft cocktailing.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather enjoyable review of Scotch, it's history and the authors own personal views on it. The only reason why I didn't give this a higher rating is that I found the middle to be a bit tedious, going through all the amalgamations of the different distilleries and so on. I much preferred his own take on whisky and would have found it more enjoyable had he put more of this in. Good starting point for anyone interested in Scotch history and practice.

[Kevin Kosar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daiches (1912-2005) was an interesting character — a Jewish Scotsman who was, as the New York Times described, a “prolific literary biographer, historian, essayist, critic and poet...(read more)