The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All: Know Your Booze Before You Choose

A clever distillation of America's favorite libation, by the New York Times best-selling authors of The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert Whiskey fever is sweeping the nation. Every day, craft distilleries are popping up in remote counties and urban centers, offering a wealth of great choices to consumers--and just as many puzzlements. Does the introduction of a simple e to go from whisky to whiskey mean anything? What's the difference between Scotch and Rye? What's Canadian whisky anyway? And what about the whiskeys of Scotland, Japan, and Ireland? Where's a humble Joe to start? In this witty kid-style book on an adult topic, Richard Betts boils down his know-how into twenty pages, cooling our brown-sweat anxieties and dividing whiskey into three simple categories: Grain, Wood, and Place. While most whiskey tomes are about as fun as a chemistry lesson, Betts makes the learning slide down easy, reassuring us that this exalted spirit is just distilled beer and, through a nasal romp, helping us figure out which kinds we love best. Humorous illustrations and scratch-and-sniff scents (vanilla, sandalwood, grass, and more) help would-be connoisseurs learn their personal preferences. Language label and Map to Your Desires included.