Hans Offringa has written 25 books about whisky in one way or another, among which the international bestseller A Field Guide to Whisky. He has been contributing editor of Whisky Magazine and American Whiskey for a number of years, and is a Keeper of the Quaich, Kentucky Colonel, Lifetime International Ambassador of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, Founder of International Whisky Day, Honorary Ambassador of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and Patron of the Whisky Festival North Netherlands. Together with his American spouse Becky Lovett Offringa, who is co-author and contributing photographer to at least ten of Hans’ books, he conducts tastings and presentations.
I wrote...
A Field Guide to Whisky: An Expert Compendium to Take Your Passion and Knowledge to the Next Level
In A Field Guide to Whisky, published by Artisan/Workman, NYC, Hans accumulated his vast knowledge of whisky and whiskey worldwide, built up during more than 30 years of research, visiting over 150 distilleries and interviews with many people who make the stuff. In 320 pages, attractively set up as a comprehensive Q&A, you will find almost anything you may want to know about whisky, with and without the “e”.
A Field Guide to Whisky is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of images and photographs, mostly taken by The Whisky Couple themselves.
Charles MacLean MBE is without any doubt the number one expert on Scotch whisky in the world. His writings are always a joy to read. Charlie, as he is known by friends and family, has a penchant for history and pouring it in highly entertaining sentences, avoiding facts like figures cluttering up the story line. He has been researching and writing whisky books & articles since 1981, and shares his enthusiasm and knowledge by giving talks and tastings around the world, by leading ‘whisky expeditions’ in Scotland and by presenting training programmes and Masterclasses for whisky companies, clubs and individuals. Without wanting to pay short on his many other books, Scotch Whisky: A liquid history, is a seminal work.
Whisky is widely considered the finest spirit in the world and its history has evolved against a fascinating backdrop. This is the story of a traditional spirit with an intriguing past. The book explores and unfolds, decade by decade, the history, secrets and untold tales surrounding one of the world's most popular tipples. Beginning as far back as 2000 BC, the tale moves through the centuries to the present day, looking at the fascinating characters who smuggled, bribed, conspired and advertised with a vengeance to turn whisky from a common man's drink into an integral and admired part of popular…
Dave Broom is an all-round drinks writer and presenter, not limiting himself to Scotch only. He has written a score of books on various libations and is also considered a rum connoisseur. In fact, he is also one of the true experts on Japanese whisky. His The Way of Whisky not only captures the spirit of the drink but also the spirit of Japan, in a tender, almost poetical way. In his recently released road movie The Amber Light he takes his audience through the world of Scottish Whisky in his inimitable manner, which makes him such a great presenter. The Weegee accent is never far away and makes his talks even more enjoyable.
An in-depth, personal journey around Japan's whisky distilleries.
Award-winning author and Japanese whisky expert, Dave Broom, tells their story and unveils the philosophy that lies behind this fascinating whisky culture, and how it relates to many Japanese concepts.
Dave looks at the history and output of each distillery, considering the elements that make that particular whisky what it is, and including tasting notes. Features on aspects of Japanese life and culture that are crucial to a wider understanding, from the importance of the seasons to…
Ingvar Ronde, a Swedish whisky connoisseur, writer, and publisher, surprised the whisky world with the first edition of The Malt Whisky Yearbook back in 2006. It became a classic instantly and has seen 15 updated editions so far. The MWY is an unmissable guide for professionals and whisky aficionados alike, fully packed with information about malt whisky distilleries around the world, images, figures about the industry, essays by foremost whisky writers, and tasting notes on the side. It is the only whisky book that always travels with me, wherever I go.
Whisky enthusiasts all over the world look forward to the Malt Whisky Yearbook every autumn. This 16th edition is again fully revised and packed with new and up-to-date information on more than 400 whisky distilleries from all over the world. Distinguished whisky experts contribute with new features written exclusively for this new edition along with details of hundreds of whisky shops, whisky sites and new bottlings. The Independent Bottlers chapter gives you all the details about the worlds most successful blenders and bottlers complete with tasting notes. A comprehensive summary of the whisky year that was and all the latest…
Historian Dr. Nicholas Morgan, Nick for intimi, was instrumental in setting up Diageo’s archives during his more than 30-year long career in the whisky industry and that is only one of his many accomplishments in this particular field. In the three years before he retired, he studied the history of the best-selling whisky brand in the world: Johnnie Walker. The result is an excellent book that explains how the making of whisky grew from a cottage industry in the Highlands to the multi-billion dollar industry of today. He uses the JW brand as an ‘example par excellence’ and explains once and for all in a clear and expressive way why blended whisky is so important and remains the key player in the whisky world, notwithstanding the fact that from a publicity point of view the emphasis on Scotch mostly falls on single malts (that ‘only’ represent roughly 12% of the market).
The history of Johnnie Walker, tracing its roots back to 1820, is also the history of Scotch whisky. But who was John Walker - the man who started the story? And how did his business grow from the shelves of a small grocery shop in Kilmarnock to become the world's No. 1 Scotch?
A Long Stride tells the story of how John Walker and a succession of ingenious and progressive business leaders embraced their Scottish roots to walk confidently on an international stage. By doing things their own way, Johnnie Walker overturned the conventions of late Victorian and Edwardian Britain,…
A classic work by Daniel Okrent, at one time the first public editor of the New York Times and managing editor of Life Magazine. This 470-page tome describes in detail the great rift in the history of American whiskey, also known as ‘The Noble Experiment’. If you want to understand how it was possible that an entire nation the size of the United States of America went ‘dry’ in 1920 with the acceptance of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the USA for that, this should be your ‘First Call’. The book doesn’t end sadly, on the contrary, in 1933 Prohibition was repealed, with the invoking of the 21st Amendment. Before Last Call Mr Okrent published four more books, among which Great Fortune, shortlisted for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize on History.
A brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of America’s most puzzling era, the years 1920 to 1933, when the US Constitution was amended to restrict one of America’s favorite pastimes: drinking alcoholic beverages.
From its start, America has been awash in drink. The sailing vessel that brought John Winthrop to the shores of the New World in 1630 carried more beer than water. By the 1820s, liquor flowed so plentifully it was cheaper than tea. That Americans would ever agree to relinquish their booze was as improbable as it was astonishing.
Yet we did, and Last Call is Daniel Okrent’s dazzling…
My life and work have been profoundly affected by the central circumstance of my existence: I was born into a very large military Catholic family in the United States of America. As a child surrounded by many others in the 60s, I wrote, performed, and directed family plays with my numerous brothers and sisters. Although I fell in love with a Canadian and moved to Canada, my family of origin still exerts considerable personal influence. My central struggle, coming from that place of chaos, order, and conformity, is to have the courage to live an authentic life based on my own experience of connectedness and individuality, to speak and be heard.
Trapped in her enormous, devout Catholic family in 1963, Annie creates a hilarious campaign of lies when the pope dies and their family friend, Cardinal Stefanucci, is unexpectedly on the shortlist to be elected the first American pope.
Driven to elevate her family to the holiest of holy rollers in the parish, Annie is tortured by her own dishonesty. But when “The Hands” visits her in her bed and when her sister finds herself facing a scandal, Annie discovers her parents will do almost anything to uphold their reputation and keep their secrets safe.
Questioning all she has believed and torn between her own gut instinct and years of Catholic guilt, Annie takes courageous risks to wrest salvation from the tragic sequence of events set in motion by her parents’ betrayal.
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