Book Review: The World Atlas of Whisky, Third Edition

Unsatisfied with authoring not one, but two of the best whisky books of the last decade, Dave Broom returns with an updated edition of his World Atlas of Whisky. Now in its third iteration, Broom made the creative call to replace 90% of the photography, increase the distillery profiles by 150% (500 distilleries now receive treatment), beef up the number of illustrated maps and tasting notes and, if all this wasn’t enough, update all the flowcharts to cover changes in distillation. With well over 300 pages and several continents indexed in the table of contents, there is much ground here to cover.

And just like in 2022’s excellent A Sense of Place, he does it very well. The usual heavy hitters of the U.S., Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and Ireland are well represented, but Broom takes equal time and space to represent the road less traveled, taking readers to the Nordic and South American regions with equal gusto and consideration. It’s only a matter of time before these smaller, newer regions establish a larger share of the global market, one which will most likely be featured in a forthcoming Broom book of their own once he runs out of other things to discuss. (Coming in 2045: The Distilleries of Nunavut and the Yukon Territories.)

Equally approachable for a newcomer or seasoned know-it-all, Broom gets the job done in keeping the atlas inviting and accessible. His writing fires on all cylinders when there are column inches to stretch out and craft a story in deep detail. Unfortunately, the real estate afforded here can constrain the ability for such granularity, as this book could easily expand into the 800- or 900-page range if given total freedom of play. However, the compromise on comprehensiveness and detail brings its own type of satisfaction, delivering tasting notes and beautiful, crisp photography on nearly every page. Much like A Sense of Place or The Way of Whiskey, what separates The World Atlas from other reference overviews/introductory volumes is Broom framing the narrative in stories rather than self-serving anecdotes, inviting the reader to tag along as his distillery plus one while he meets the people who are making the magic, keeping the traditions alive, or breaking new ground in uncharted territory. The subjects take center stage here, but Broom is behind the curtain and deserves a bow for his production efforts.

A / $50 [BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON]

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