A Sense of Place: A journey around Scotland’s whisky

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Does this happen every Saturday?’ an American asked me. I was tempted to say, ‘yes, it’s a Raasay tradition that the Skye pipe band marches in step off the ferry to be greeted by the entire population of the island’, but I thought it might be taken as being sarcastic. Honesty is often the best policy. ‘No, it’s a special day,’ I told him. ‘The island’s distillery is being opened. Come along.’ A personal journey exploring Scotch whiskey through its terroir, including the land, weather, history, craft and culture that feeds and enhances the whisky itself.

A Sense of Place blends pin-sharp writing with evocative photography in a book to savour and treasure.' - Ian Rankin Mr. Broom, who was born in Glasgow and has been writing about spirits for decades, is the perfect author for this beautiful, evocative book. He knows the whisky territory intimately and the people well, and he has the senses of wonder, empathy and history to tie them altogether, as well as the skill to conjure up the smell of the salt air, the sound of barley shimmering in the wind, the vibrations of hammers shaping copper into stills and the singe of the oak staves as a cooper bends them over fire…With beautiful photography by Christina Kernohan, this is the book to give any lover of single malt, along with a bottle of their favorite whisky.’ The Year’s Best Books on Wine (and Whisky), The New York Times In the book, Morgan answers these questions and looks at how Johnnie Walker, through reinvention and going against convention became the first truly global whisky brand, and how it revolutionised the world of advertising along the way. It was a revelatory moment. It helped to change people’s perceptions, because after that, even the fact that there were distilleries in England(!), that was no longer a problem. In this beautifully crafted narrative, award-winning writer Dave Broom examines Scotch whisky from the point of view of its terroir - the land, weather, history, craft and culture that feed and enhance the whisky itself. Travelling around his native Scotland and visiting distilleries from Islay and Harris to Orkney and Speyside, Dave explores the whiskies made there and the elements in their distilling, and locality, which make them what they are. Along the way he tells the story of whisky’s history and considers what whisky is now, and where it is going.The Braemar Literary Festival aims to explore the creative use of words and text in their broadest sense; celebrating the works of bestselling authors alongside visual artists, spoken word performers, singer-songwriters, scriptwriters, critics, and publishers alike, reflecting the many ways in which the ’literary’ creatively enhances our lives. I do take a degree of pride that the artists I’m interested in are not easily traceable. Maybe I am programmed to like the obscure. So, what is the “ weird shit” that you are interested in? I am talking strictly whisky here.

I do, to some extent, collect music. But the nature of my collecting music is that I just want to find interesting things, rather than wanting to be a completist. Even the weather was behaving. The clouds had gathered late the night , drenching the land. On Skye, the Cuillin ridge was shrouded. As the pipe band arrived, the last spots fell and the skies began to clear. By the time the ribbon had been cut and the islanders, guests, (and still bemused tourists) had walked through the shiny new plant, sipped their Champagne and whisky, the sun was blazing off the gold-cladded entrance. Hebridean welcome: Isle of Raasay distillery opened to the sound of theSkye pipe band (Photo: Scott Mooney) I do like whisky. Yes, I genuinely, genuinely do like whisky. The ones I haven’t drunk are samples I’m about to taste… The rest are open! A book so beautifully tweedy I actually want to wear it as a hat. I am very glad it includes a map as Dave's authoritative guide has given me many great whisky-holiday ideas.' Damian BarrIn this beautifully crafted narrative, award-winning writer Dave Broom examines Scotch whisky from the point of view of its terroir – the land, weather, history, craft and culture that feed and enhance the whisky itself. Travelling around his native Scotland and visiting distilleries from Islay and Harris to Orkney and Speyside, Dave explores the whiskies made there and the elements in their distilling, and locality, which make them what they are. Along the way he tells the story of whisky’s history and considers what whisky is now, and where it is going. Dave Broom's whisky odyssey is in many ways a story of Scotland and the questions we face....Like a good dram, it's complex, and Dave makes an excellent guide... Christina Kernohan's beautiful photographs of the places and people featured in the book add texture and vibrancy to the stories: a window into the distilleries and lives of the craftspeople.” Best of Scotland A classic example being this week. A press release that was gibberish to begin with was then reprinted with even more gibberish added because whoever wrote the piece didn’t understand what they’re writing about. That’s not journalism. Is the most transparent way for reporting a press release to just publish a photocopy of it? Those of us who live outwith a distilling community only see the end result of the work. As a result, we obsess and delight in the finished product and don’t give a second thought to how a distillery interacts with its locality.