The Whisky River

About the Book: 

Which river has half the distilleries in Scotland found along its length and in its surrounding glens?
Why were monks at the forefront of developing whisky?
Which Speyside distillery has an annual migration of toads?
How did Glenrothes distillery expel its ghost?

Robin Laing - singer-songwriter, author of The Whisky Muse, and chair of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's Tasting Panel - set out to visit every distillery in the Speyside area, from Benromach to Tomintoul, and presents a guide to each of them here. There are descriptions of over 50 distilleries in Speyside, including The Macallan, The Glenlivet, Cardhu, Aberlour, Glenfiddich and Glengrant.

Each entry is part history, part travelogue and part commentary on the changes in the whisky industry.

Includes personal musings by the author, stories associated with the distillery and snippets of poetry and song.

Laing's 'spirit' guide in his journey is Alfred Barnard, author of 1887's The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom. Barnard visited many of the same distilleries that Laing visits now and similarly left his impressions of the state of the facilities and the beauty of the surroundings. Much of this present book compares what Barnard found with what exists now, and the differences - and similarities - are often fascinating.

Reviews: 

The author-singer-songwriter of The Whisky Muse and chairperson of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Tasting Panel – set out to visit every distillery in the Speyside area, and presents his guide to each in this 206 page paperback. Over 50 distilleries are described, including Cardhu, Aberlour and Glen Grant. Each entry is part history, part travelogue and part commentary. Illustrated by Bob Dewer. THE SCOTS MAGAZINE

Robin Laing’s The Whisky River is the kind of book I immediately fall in love with, even before reading the first line. It brings together two passions of mine, whisky and song. […] This is essential reading for the whisky connoisseur. There might be other guide books about Scotland in general and Speyside in particular, there might be other books about Scottish whisky – but forget them, you only need this guide to the heartbeat of a small country in the North West of Europe. Slainte! FOLKWORLD

About the Author:

ROBIN LAING a musician and writer, originally from Edinburgh, now based in South Lanarkshire. He is the author of four books on the subject of whisky and has released eight albums of whisky songs, as well as five albums of songs on various other subjects. He performs internationally as a singer-songwriter and is also chair of the tasting panel for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. This publication
is a departure for him – poems instead of songs and castles instead of whisky.

www.robinlaing.com

BOB DEWAR was born in Edinburgh at an early age. 16 years later he was published nationally. He worked in D.C. Thomson’s studio where, among other things, he ghosted Dennis the Menace. After going freelance, he did political and social commentary for The Scotsman newspaper. He has illustrated books for the children’s and English Speaking Departments of Oxford University Press, Fife Educational Social Development, A&C Black and many Scottish publishers – Birlinn, Luath, Black & White and Itchy Coo. His work has also appeared in The Times, The Herald, Scottish Field and The Scotch Malt Whisky Society.