Book Review: Whiskey & Philosophy
It is try that whiskey has a tendency to make philosophers out of all of us, but I didn’t know that would lead anyone to actually write a book on the topic.
Truth be told, Whiskey & Philosophy is not really a study of drinking dogma but an anthology (written by 20 different authors or teams of writers — when you drink, it sometimes takes more than one person to make a coherent thought, I guess) covering everything there is to cover about the world of whiskey.
There are the expected treatises on the origins of whiskey, various types of whiskey (there’s even a chapter/installment on Japanese whiskey), whiskey drinks (there are 15 pages about the Manhattan), and the appropriateness of judging/grading/describing whiskey. And eventually we get to philosophy. Both Hegel and Kant are invoked.
Perhaps a standout is Ada Brunstein’s essay on female whiskey drinkers, and why the hell they’re so rare. (I can count the number of women I know who genuinely like whiskey on one hand.) It starts with the story of Hillary Clinton drinking Crown Royal on the campaign trail… and the backlash she got for it.
Even better: Ian J. Dove’s treatise on reviews and tasting notes, and how one can rarely tell if a whiskey is actually any good by reading them without a grade or rating. And what’s the difference between a 92 and a 95 anyway? Jim Murray gets a hearty raking over the coals here.
But almost all of this (a few stories excepted) is very dry stuff. Written academically — every essay is footnoted extensively — this is a textbook for that class in college that sounds like it’s going to be awesome… until you get there and realize that no booze is allowed in the classroom.
In other words: Perfect for the whiskey-lover’s bookshelf. But not a book you should expect him to actually read much of.
C+ / $15 / [BUY IT FROM AMAZON]
Whiskey & Philosophy
$15
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Sorry to hear that the book as a whole wasn’t great, but I may have to see if I can track down a copy for the essay on women whiskey-drinkers. I’ve often wondered that, myself – I like the stuff just fine, but whenever I offer it (or a drink made with it) to a female friend I almost inevitably get a blank look.