Scotch: The Stories Behind Iconic Spirit

As satisfying as a tumbler of single malt on a rainy afternoon, this spectacular tour across the Scottish landscape shows how the country’s premier whisky-makers are creating exquisite beverages using new models of responsible stewardship for their five-hundred-year-old industry. Horst A. Friedrichs and Stuart Husband are masters of visual storytelling, plumbing their subjects’ sumptuous depths with arresting photography and evocative texts.

Now they turn their attention to scotch whisky, undertaking a road trip of 8,000 miles across Scotland to understand the world’s obsession with this iconic elixir. Each distillery is introduced with Husband’s engaging texts and illustrated with Friedrich’s luscious photographs of the people who work there, the breathtaking scenery, the machinery, barrels, fields, grains, copper, and glassware that go into making fine scotch.

They travel from Springbank distillery in Campbeltown via the Isle of Harris to Ardbeg on the Isle of Islay; they traverse the Lowlands and explore legendary Speyside single malts. Ranging from ancient floor maltings to twenty-first century single malts being produced by a new generation of pioneers, this book shows that there are endless reasons and ways to enjoy scotch; and that for an industry steeped in history and committed to honoring the land and its people, the future is bright.

Hardback 240 pages