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Raw Spirit In Search Of The Perfect Dram iainmbanks 9781844131990 Books

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Raw Spirit In Search Of The Perfect Dram iainmbanks 9781844131990 Books

When I discovered the existence of this book I knew I had to own it. I love Banks' books and I love single malt scotch; this book is the perfect amalgam of the two. Once I had it in my sweaty little hands and started reading I had a moment of doubt - a brief fear that it might prove to be self-indulgent on his part, puffed up to extend the page count. I need not have worried. The book does not pretend to be a comprehensive guide to either whisky or Scotland; it is one man's journey across his homeland sampling the product thereof in the company of his dear friends (and favorite automobiles). I like vintage cars, motorcycles, grand vistas, science fiction and whisky, but I think I'd enjoy this book even without all those links - Banks does a beautiful job describing the beauties of his homeland and the subtleties of a fine dram.


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Raw Spirit In Search Of The Perfect Dram iainmbanks 9781844131990 Books Reviews

This is a highly amusing and deeply insightful book. "Banksie" goes hunting for the perfect dram, and in so doing travels all over the British Isles. He visits many distilleries, but his keen observations of life in general makes the story.
Loved Bank's sense of humor and his stories. Excessive car dialogue became boring, as I was more interested in learning about Scotland and its whiskies.
A fun read in its own right, for any fan of Iain Banks this is a warm invitation into a joyful life that ended too soon. The book is filled with Banks' self-effacing humor and not just a little education on the regions of Scotland and their best known export.
Definitely a different approach to exploring both scotch whisky and the back corners of Scotland where it happens, with and without the tourists. I enjoyed this trip so much that my non-scotch drinking husband read it after I did, and he also enjoyed it! Now I have to share my scotch..is this a good thing? Not sure yet...
Having been there, appreciated the almost Personal Guide to the Distilleries of Scotland- with the help of google earth too.

The personal touch is a nicely written, with help from his friends and family, we get to travel and enjoy the landscape, the whiskeys and Iain's fine humour.

Of course his finest dram coincides with mine, and that was thanks to my friend Chris. He is getting this book as a Real Book, in the mail.

Iain Banks or as Iain M. Banks, has been a touchstone for me for a long time, and I have not read all his offerings,
The book was a bit disappointing in that the subject matter of Scotland's scotch distilleries was assumed incorrectly by me to be the focus of this book. Instead, scotch is secondary. This reads more like an autobiography with a heavy emphasis on the author's various cars and how they handle the roads in Scotland. While amusing at times, it got old halfway through the book.
I think the title of this book "Raw Spirit" is autobiographical, i.e., Iain is describing himself in his usual way of making puns where it suits him. Iain is someone who almost can't believe that he is making a living doing what he does (writing) while having the relative freedom to live life his way and on top of that get hired to go walkabout (mostly on wheels) through Scotland to drink single malt scotch.
He spends as much time reflecting on the Scottish roads and countryside, the Iraq war, British taxes, Australian red wine (of a specific bottling), Scottish cooking, favorite cars and motorbikes, the US President, firecrackers, and personal friends who accompany him, as he does on tasting single malt scotch whiskey. This is why I gave the book only 3 stars, because someone seeking more information on Scotch should go elsewhere, and that's the honest part of me as a reviewer.
OTOH, if, like me, you adore Penfolds Grange (I have the largest 3 decade collection in the East US), damn good scotch, well-engineered motor vehicles on twisty roads, close/old friends, & warped skiffy stories; and you hate the Iraq war, the 'dubya' President, the use of taxes for miltary and complete BS properness, then the rating for this book should be 5 stars. And it doesn't hurt that this book drove me to my fave stores to hunt rare SMs as well for a small fortune.
The fact that I like Iain's stories, particularly the skiffies, is just the best icing on the cake. Aside from the Glenfiddich Havana Reserve, that is. An' heer's tu ya.
When I discovered the existence of this book I knew I had to own it. I love Banks' books and I love single malt scotch; this book is the perfect amalgam of the two. Once I had it in my sweaty little hands and started reading I had a moment of doubt - a brief fear that it might prove to be self-indulgent on his part, puffed up to extend the page count. I need not have worried. The book does not pretend to be a comprehensive guide to either whisky or Scotland; it is one man's journey across his homeland sampling the product thereof in the company of his dear friends (and favorite automobiles). I like vintage cars, motorcycles, grand vistas, science fiction and whisky, but I think I'd enjoy this book even without all those links - Banks does a beautiful job describing the beauties of his homeland and the subtleties of a fine dram.