Product Description

Around 1885, Alfred Barnard was secretary of Harper's Weekly Gazette, a journal dedicated to the wine and spirit trade. In order to provide his readers with the history and descriptions of the whisky-making process, Barnard decided to visit all distilleries in Scotland, England and Ireland. Accompanied by friends, he visited over 150 distilleries. The names found in his reports still excite the dedicated whisky connoisseur today, as well as others whose fame has faded since the end of the 19th century. The appeal of Barnard's book lies not only in the technical descriptions of each distillery's processes, but also in the colourful descriptions of his journeys, brimming with historical colour and detail. A superbly illustrated facsimile edition, with over 200 engravings, this book is a complete guide to the origins of Scotland's national drink, as well as a lively picture of life and travel in the Victorian age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101495 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-15
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 632 pages

Review
'the foundation of today's Scotch whisky heritage' - Richard Joynson

About the Author
Alfred Barnard was born in 1835. He was appointed as secretary of Harpers Weekly Gazette around 1885.

Customer Reviews

The best-ever Barnard
The Rasch 2000 edition was creditable, but Barnard's 1887 masterpiece has never looked better than in this facsimile. If you have not yet got the book that should be the cornerstone of any whisky library, get it now. Best of all is the introduction by the opinionated proprietor of Loch Fyne Whiskies. It is a masterful piece of writing and - through an inspired piece of detective work - features a wonderful photograph of the great Alfred himself. If you can't decide which malt to buy a true whisky aficionado for Christmas, this will delight them.

An evocative journey
This book is fantastic. It is a faithful reproduction of a journey taken around 1885 to every single one of the whisky distilleries in the UK that were operational at the time (including 4 in England). Not only does the author describe in detail the working of each distillery, he also describes the areas in which they are and the journey he undertook. This is a must for any whisky enthusiast. It also gives an insight into Victorian Britain. As an added bonus this edition includes five additional publications by the author. Another nice touch is some newspaper ads from the era. Highly recommended.

a look back in time
This book is a classic publication on whisky. Alfred Barnard visited all distilleries in Scotland, Ireland and England. It is a printing record of the distilleries in the year 1887. You can imagine the beautiful landscapes and the surroundings of his travel through the country. It is a report of his journey. He made a description of the distilleries and the equipment. If you read the text today, you don't want to know the details of the distilleries but you can enjoy the description of his travel and the problems he faced on his travel.
The book begins with an introduction on distilling. A map and an index of the distilleries head the three geographical (Scotland, Ireland and England) parts. There are beautiful printings of the distilleries and the surroundings of the estates included. You can enjoy the single chapter with a dram or you can read the text as a comparison to the real distilleries today.
This book is really for the collector and not for the beginner in whisky literature. It is a fortune to have this book in hands.