The following appeared in the original edition of the A Book of Words: Whisky in 1993 and rather than alter it wholesale, I have chosen to let it remain word for word in order to record the people to whom I was indebted at that time. Their contributions and help are no less important with this new and revised edition. I have also added a new section to this with some updates at the end.
1993
Many individuals and organisations have taken an interest in the preparation of this book, and have provided information, opinions, advice and encouragement. I raise a grateful glass to them all, and offer apologies to anyone I fail to mention by name. Thanks are particularly due to Dr Christopher McCully and Dr Gerald Hammond, for their faith, enthusiasm and practical assistance, and to John Dumbreck for his invaluable help in respect of matters Gaelic.
I am also indebted to Ian Allan, retired manager of Bruichladdich Distillery, Islay; Roger Brashears Jr. of Jack Daniel Distillers, Tennessee; Trevor Cowan; Leila Edwards; Owen Dudley-Edwards; Dafydd Gittins; Janice Mack and United Distillers; Helen Maclean; the late Sorley MacLean; George Melville of the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre; Prof. D Uwyd Morgan, University of Wales, Aberystwyth; M. Nicholson of The Mitchell Library, Glasgow; John Clement Ryan and Irish Distillers Ltd; Vicky Salmon of the Irish Distillers Information Bureau; The Scotch Malt Whisky Society; Janet Smith of Liverpool Record Office; Dr David Thorne, University of Wales, Lampeter; Tony Tucker and Campbell Evans of the Scotch Whisky Association; Jack Williams and Lancashire Whisky Producers Ltd and Ian Urquhart, director of Gordon & MacPhail Ltd.
My friends and colleagues at The Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere - where library facilities were kindly made available to me - have been a welcome source of support and happy diversion, and members of staff at Scottish distilleries from the now silent Bladnoch in Galloway to Highland Park on Orkney have been unfailingly courteous, informative and helpful. Especial gratitude is due to my parents for introducing me to the greatest of all drinks, and to Margaret Kirkby and Janet Haynes for more reasons than I have room to relate.
The following publishers and agents have been kind enough to allow the reproduction of copyright material: Robin Clark for Drink To Me Only ed. By Alan Bold; David Higham Associates Ltd for Highland View by James Bramwell; AP Watt Ltd for The Century Companion to Whiskies by Derek Cooper; Andre Deutsch Ltd for Scotch Whisky by David Daiches; Guinness Publishing for extracts from The Guinness Drinking Companion by Leslie Dunkling, copyright © Guinness Publishing Ltd, 1992; Judy Piatkus Publishers Ltd for The Little Whisky Book by Susan Fleming; excerpts from Floyd on Hangovers by Keith Floyd reproduced by permission of Michael Joseph Ltd; Speymalt Whisky Distributors Ltd for Gordon & McPhail's Corporate Brochure; Warner Books for The Spirit of Whisky by Richard Grindal; Souvenir Press Ltd for Whisky and Scotland by Neil M Gunn; Mainstream Publishing Company Ltd for Scots on Scotch, ed. by Phillip Hills and Spirit of Adventure by Tom Morton; Irish Distillers Ltd for Irish Whiskey: The Water of Life; Jack Daniel Distillery for product description literature; Dorling Kindersley Ltd for The World Guide to Whisky by Michael Jackson, and Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky Companion; Mitchell Beazley Publishers Ltd for Michael Jackson's Pocket Bar Book; The Edinburgh Publishing Company Ltd for The Whisky Connoisseur's Book of Days by John Lamond; The Malt Whisky Association for The Malt File by John Lamond and Robin Tucek and The Malt Letter; The Bodley Head for Scotch by Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart; John Murray Ltd for The Whiskies of Scotland by RJS McDowall; The Appletree Press Ltd for In Praise of Poteen by John McGuffin; Lochar Publishing Ltd for Tales of Whisky and Smuggling by Stuart McHardy, and The Scots Cellar by Marian McNeill; The Society of Authors as the literary representative of the Estate of Sir Compton Mackenzie for extracts from Whisky Galore; Macmillan London Limited for Scotch Whisky by Donald Mackinlay (and others); Rogers, Coleridge and White Ltd for In the Highlands and Islands by John McPhee; Neil Wilson Publishing Ltd for Wallace Milroy's Malt Whisky Almanac by Wallace Milroy, and Scotch and Water by Neil Wilson; Ravette Books for The Bluffer's Guide to Whisky by David Milsted; James and James Publishing for The Making of Scotch Whisky by Michael Moss and John Hume; W&R Chambers Ltd for Chambers Scottish Drink Book by Michael Moss (and others); and Scotch Whisky by Marshall Robb; West Highlands and Islands of Argyll Tourist Board for Campbeltown's Distilleries: A Guide for Visitors by Norman S Newton; The Scotch Whisky Association for Scotch Whisky Questions and Answers; The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd for The Scotch Whisky Book by Mark Skipworth and lain Sutherland for Vote No Licence.
In the text, references to frequently-cited sources are given in abbreviated form full details of which may be found in the References at the end of the book. Where no reference is given, details have been taken from the Oxford English Dictionary, and thanks are due to the Oxford University Press for allowing the inclusion of such material.
2009
Few things in life stay the same for very long, particularly in competitive commercial environments, and so it is that the whisky industries of the world have changed significantly since the first edition of this book was published as Whisky: A Book of Words back in 1993.
This new edition takes cognisance of those changes, embracing a thorough updating of the existing text and the addition of more than 70 entirely new entries, running to in excess of 12,000 words. Written records remain the principal source of illustrative and corroborative material, but the age of the Internet means that I have also taken advantage of work that exists in cyberspace, not to mention personal contact with people professionally involved in the world of whisky.
Sources of data new to this edition are acknowledged in the References section, and I would like to add my thanks to the following people for their help, support or even free whisky. Writing is extremely thirsty work! Particular thanks are due to Richard Paterson, master blender of Whyte & Mackay Ltd, (who not only tactfully suggested that some updating work on the book was in order but even went so far as to identify missing terms) along with Rob Allanson, John Black, Dave Broom, Ian Buxton, Grant Carmichael, Douglas Cooper, Rob Curteis, Dave Doig, John Hansell, Mickey Heads, the late Michael Jackson, Dr Bill Lumsden, Ed McAffer, Jim McEwan, Frank McHardy, Charles MacLean, Ian Millar, Derek Spark, Hamish Scott, Eric Stephen, Brian Watt and Alan Winchester.
If I have failed to acknowledge any copyright, the fault was made in good faith and I would urge anyone with information regarding this to contact my publisher Neil Wilson whose details are published on the copyright page.
Finally, the convention used in this book regarding cross-references means that each one is preceded by the symbol ⇒, but is only used once if the same cross-reference appears again in the same entry.
Gavin D. Smith