Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch [Hardcover]

Michael Jackson died in 2007 and his book had not been updated since 2004. The malt whisky industry has changed greatly since then. The goal of these three editors was to update Michael's classic book while trying to do it as he would have himself.

The layout of the book is in alphabetical order by distillery. There is a short half-page introduction to each distillery, a sentence on the distillery's house style, followed by very short reviews and ratings of several whiskies from the distillery. Many reviews also include a picture of the bottle label. The beginning of the book starts with a general introduction to whisky, left mostly untouched from how Michael wrote it.

The goal of the editors was to keep as many of Michael's original reviews as possible, while updating them with reviews of new whiskies and removing outdated whiskies. The introduction says that two-thirds of the reviews are new, but I also found many of Michael's iconic tasting notes still in the book. The authors have intentionally changed very little in The Macallan section due to Michael's special affection for The Macallan, although they have added reviews of the Fine Oak series.

I listened to a recent interview with the editors. When it came to reviewing the whiskies, the editors say that they tried to stay true to Michael's style. This means that the reviews are terse, ratings are rarely above 85, and also that the editors tried to put aside their own opinions of the whiskies and tried to rate them as Michael would have (based on their reading of his past reviews). They spent 18 months updating the book, each working on reviewing separate distilleries without consulting each other on the reviews.

Overall I am satisfied with this book, although I do not own the previous versions. Many recently released modern whiskies are reviewed now, while I was also able to find some reviews that I know to be Michael's originals.

The editors hope to continue to update this classic and release new editions, but there are legal issues regarding Michael Jackson's estate. Therefore future editions of this book are still uncertain.

"Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch" is a truly great reference for the connoisseur and novice alike. This 5th edition includes descriptions and scores for over 1,000 single malt Scotches, about 250 more than the previous edition. It is a handsome volume, well-organized and printed on slick high-quality paper. The book has an attractive, durable cover instead of a dust jacket.

The "Complete Guide"'s first 80 pages are dedicated to educating the reader about whiskies in general and single malt Scotches in particular. Ten chapters discuss a useful variety of topics: trends, origins, definitions of terms used in labeling, the influence of the terrain on flavor, the characteristics of various regions, the significance of age, the woods used in casks, and a list of the companies that own Scotch distilleries, with some explanation of their history. The chapter on Flavours is particularly interesting. Michael Jackson is a good writer. His explanations are clear without being dull, and they will leave few questions in the minds of readers who are new to Scotch whisky.

The core of the Guide is the "A-Z of Single Malts". Michael Jackson explains his scoring system and the components of his tasting notes: colour, nose, body, palate, and finish. Then he launches into descriptions of more than 1,000 Scotches produced by, I believe, over 90 distilleries. A few paragraphs explain a little bit about each distillery's history and unique characteristics. The Producer (owner), Region, District, and Address are listed for each distillery, as well as telephone, e-mail and web site where it is available. I found that the palate and finish descriptions took some getting used to before I was able to reconcile Jackson's description to how the malt really tastes. He has a sensitive palate, which has become, or always was, keen to certain nuances. I'm sure everyone is different in that sense, but I picked up on his meaning after a while. His attempts to describe all aspects of the sensory experience unique to each whisky are most helpful and impressive. It is a pleasure to browse his descriptions. The book's single imperfection is the absence of pronunciation guides. The pronunciations of some distillery names are mysterious to those unaccustomed to hearing Scottish words.

In the last pages of the "Complete Guide', Jackson gives us some general information on whiskies from Ireland, the United States, Japan, Asia, and continental Europe. There are also brief descriptions of some vatted malts and Jackson's recommendations for how best to enjoy whisky.

Echoing the other reviews posted here, I'd just like to add that this book is one of the best of its kind. Unlike a lot of books about scotch whisky which tell you loads about the distilliries yet nothing about the relative worth of the drams, this book calls 'em--the good, the mediocore, and the not so good. Mr. Jackson is an outstanding writer, by turns witty and intelligent, and his passion for scotch is evident and infectious. The beautiful layout work complements the writing.

If you have even a passing interest in single malts, you need this book. Buy it now. And don't let your friends swipe your copy, even though they'll want to.