Upon first glance, I thought this book might contain many (true) short stories by illicit distillers, whisky connoisseurs and the like but after reading the synopsis here, I realized it was a collection of various factoids and tidbits about whisky. What is not mentioned here but is mentioned in the foreword of the book is that Mr. Maclean intends this to be an updated, expanded version of his former title, Maclean's Miscellany of Whisky.
It is easy reading. There is a loose fabric binding all the short chapters together and there are some faint signposts of chronology but it does shift gears quite rapidly at times. The dustcover is quite handsome and the book itself is made very well. Of particular note is the quality of the color reproductions of vintage whisky adverts.
If you're a whisky fan, this very informative, affordable book will be a treat to own. It is not meant to be an exhaustive, pedagogical analysis of whisky and at that, it exceeds quite well!