Raw Spirit: in search of the perfect dram

Iain Banks

How did he get this job? Rich, million-selling, fast car and whisky loving author gets to drive around Scotland researching (sampling) malt whisky and gets paid to do it. Oh and he has to write a book about it as well. Anyway putting jealousy aside, this book could only have been written by Banks. Yes, it’s a tour of Scottish distilleries, some famous, some obscure and it really tries to get to the “spirit” of the single malt. In many ways it succeeds and is very informative but like most of Banks’s work it has to include fast cars, memories, anecdotes, rants against war and the monster that is capitalism. It is also filled with the trademark Banks humour. Of course it’s very much a book about Scotland also. Best read accompanied by the odd dram or two….

Suggested by Orlando from Lanark from

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