Books & Dvds

The author, Neil Wilson, took a tall ship round Islay, Jura, Mull & Skye, with a quick stop at Oban. Thankfully, there's very little sailing and plenty of interesting whisky facts and history in this well-designed book. Some great photos here as well.

The latest edition of this great, great book. Ingvar Ronde's Malt Whisky Yearbook is utterly essential reading for devoted drammers.

The 2010 edition of Ingvar Ronde's essential whisky companion is the fifth in the series, begging the question - how did we do without it before? New features this year include interviews with distillery managers and a series of in-depth articles on the distillation process.

Ingvar's Ronde's 2011 Malt Whisky Yearbook, packed as ever with up-to-date distillery profiles and fascinating articles from the likes Ian Buxton and Charles Maclean. This book just seems to get better every year. An essential reference work and a damn good read, as always.

A collection of writings on whisky and beer published to honour the memory of Michael Jackson. With contributions from the most respected experts in both fields and all profits going to the Parkinson's Disease Society, there's just no excuse not to buy it.

This idiosyncratic pocket guide to the world's most interesting drams has been one of our bestsellers this year. As one might expect from Ian Buxton, the list has its controversies and will no doubt provoke a debate as to what should or shouldn't have been included. Tremendous fun.

Musings on Millwall and Mortlach from Mr Murray this year, with more than 1000 new entries, taking the total to over 4500 tasting notes. Whisky of the Year is Ballantine's 17yo, a cracking blend that Jim's been championing for some years now. As ever the scores will continue to provoke debate, but this remains an essential purchase for legions of malt fans.

The 2012 update to Jim Murray's yearly Whisky Bible, complete with his top whiskies of the year. The winner this year was Old Pulteney 21 year old, a fine whisky that it's good to see get a kick up the charts. As ever, this year's edition is bursting with over 1200 new whiskies tasted and will provoke much debate amongst whisky aficionados.

A recreation of the famous Savoy Cocktail Book, first published in 1930 and put together by Harry Craddock, the legendary man behind the hotel's American bar at the time. This contains a small section of new cocktails at the front, courtesy of the bar's new curators, Daniel Baernreuther and Erik Lorincz, but it is otherwise an excellent recreation and presentation of the original.

A follow-up to Ian Buxton's preview '101 Whiskies', expanding the reach to the whole world and examining lots of the interesting bottlings that are becoming increasingly available. WARNING: Contains 102 whiskies.

Mr Murray's 2013 edition of his scarily complete Whisky Bible, featuring notes and ratings of 4500 whiskies, with over 1300 new entries this year.

The second part of Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown's epic drinks histoire covers the cocktail golden age until the present, and is subtitled 'From publicans to master mixologists'. Engaging and easy to read stuff from these alcohol historians, this book was the winner of Best Drink History in the UK at the 2010 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

A hugely informative labour of love by Swedish publisher and whisky nut Ingvar Ronde, the 2012 Malt Whisky Yearbook is, remarkably the seventh edition, and is bigger and better than ever. With comprehensive distillery profiles, in-depth articles from some great writers and bang up to date info on the latest events in the whisky world, the Malt Whisky Yearbook is an annual institution. A uniquely pleasurable read, as always.

The 2013 edition of Ingvar Ronde's excellent yearly updated guide to the world of whisky, and we're not just saying that because he likes our blog. Packed full of distillery information from around the world as well as new articles on the state of the industry.

The 2007 edition of Pär Caldenby's guide to whisky and distilleries. A highly rated and informative guide for both the beginner and expert.

The 2003 edition of Martin Green's yearly guide to Collecting Malt Whisky.

A great coffee table whisky book, edited by Charles Maclean and featuring contributions from a Who's Who of the international whisky gliterati: Gavin D. Smith, Dave Broom, Hans Offringa, Peter Mulryan et al.