A Sense of Place

In this beautifully crafted book, award-winning writer Dave Broom examines Scotch whisky's links to landscape, agriculture, culture, and community. Starting in Orkney, he travels south via the north-east coast and the Spey valley, to the westerly peninsulas and Hebridean islands of Skye, Raasay and Harris, before the journey finishes, via the blenders of the central belt, on the island of Islay.

The trip also follows Scotch's history from Neolithic brewers to today's innovators - a tale told by distillers, but also musicians, writers and poets. What does it mean to make whisky in these places, how does a distillery reflect place in its flavour, and what is its role in communities?

With stunning specially commissioned photography by Christina Kernohan, A Sense of Place will enhance and deepen every whisky drinker's, and lover of Scotland's, understanding of the spirit, and the country.

About the Author

Dave Broom has written 13 books, including The World Atlas of Whisky, now in its second edition. He has won many awards, including two Glenfiddich prizes and, in 2013, he won the prestigious IWSC Communicator of the Year Award. In 2015, he won The Spirited Award for Best Cocktail & Spirits writer, and, in 2018, The Way of Whisky won an Andre Simon prize. In 2020 he was awarded Best Drinks Writer at the Fortnum & Mason awards.

He has been a contributing editor to Whisky Magazine, scotchwhisky,com and Malt Advocate. In 2020 he started his own website thewhiskymanual.uk. He has made two films, Cuba In A Bottle and The Amber Light. The latter, an examination on whisky and Scottish culture, won Best Programme at the 2020 Fortnum & Mason awards.

Over his three-plus decades in the field, Dave has built up a considerable international following with regular training/educational visits to Japan, France, Holland, Scandinavia, Germany, Africa and North America. He is actively involved in whisky education and also acts as a consultant to major distillers on tasting techniques as well as training professionals and the public. Dave has also worked with Suntory in developing a language of tasting that communicates Japanese concepts to English speaking audiences.

Dave's previous books also include Whisky: The Manual, Gin: The Manual, Rum: The Manual and The Way of Whisky.