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Book Corner

© 2008 F. Paul Pacult
All rights reserved.

Kindred Spirits 2:
2,400 Reviews of Whiskey, Brandy, Vodka, Tequila, Rum, Gin, and Liqueurs from F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal 2000-2007
by F. Paul Pacult, Editor of F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal
(Click on the book cover to go to a site providing more information about the book or click on the Amazon logo to buy a copy.)

F. Paul Pacult's Kindred Spirits 2 is the follow-up to the groundbreaking 1997 book of spirits reviews, Kindred Spirits. Ten years later, this indispensable, comprehensive compilation of 2,400+ detailed evaluations of whiskeys, brandies, vodkas, tequilas, rums, gins, and liqueurs sets the international gold standard for distilled spirits criticism.
      As America's most respected and trusted spirits authority, critic, journalist, consultant, and author, F. Paul Pacult, is without peer in his meticulous tasting format and fiercely unbiased opinions. The advertising-free nature of his newsletter,
F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal, now celebrating its eighteenth year of publication, allows Pacult the journalistic and critical freedom to speak his mind, review after review, product after product.
      Readers may not agree with him 100% of the time, but they always know clearly where he stands in terms of demanding quality. Pacult is just as inclined to chastise the distiller of a $1,000 bottle of brandy that falls miserably short of the mark as he is to heap praise upon a $12 bottle of rum that drinks like a $100 bottle of rum. Price, presentation, and/or producer or whether or not he personally knows the distiller never gets in the way of Pacult's honest opinions and highly detailed reviews.
      What is solely paramount to Pacult and what sets him completely apart from all other spirits writers working today is whether or not what's in the sampling glass looks, smells, tastes, and feels good enough to recommend to a friend. All other data is, to him, immaterial and extraneous.
      
Kindred Spirits 2 is the consumer's ultimate buying guide for all distilled spirits!
Kindred Spirits 2
Paperback $50/£25/€35
644 pages
Spirit Journal, Inc. - 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9801238-3-8
Visit
www.kindredspirits2.com for more information.

 
  
Kindred Spirits 2


A Double Scotch: How Chivas Regal and The Glenlivet Became Global Icons
by F. Paul Pacult, Editor of F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal
(Click on the book cover to go to a site providing more information about the book or click on the Amazon logo to buy a copy.)

In A Double Scotch: How Chivas Regal and The Glenlivet Became Global Icons celebrated spirits writer F. Paul Pacult explores these two iconic spirits and tells the stirring story of how two families forever changed the Scotch whisky playing field by producing benchmark whiskies that became standards of excellence the world over. Against the backdrop of Scotland's intriguing distilling history, F. Paul Pacult recounts how the two families endured government interference, the competition and threat of physical violence from illicit distillers, wars and Prohibition, and fierce competition to build two winning brands. A Double Scotch also tells the story of a nation that's inextricably linked to its national beverage. A must-read book for Scotch whisky lovers and history aficionados alike

 




AMERICAN STILL LIFE: The Jim Beam Story and the Making of the World's #1 Bourbon
by F. Paul Pacult
(Click on the book cover to go to a site providing more information about the book or click on the Amazon logo to buy a copy.)

More than just a book about liquor, American Still Life tells the story of America's dynastic First Family of bourbon whiskey; a family business that has evolved and grown over time and examines issues of marketing and branding, innovation, global business and competition, and government regulation. One part family chronicle, one part cultural history, and one part business success story, F. Paul Pacult, the most accomplished and respected authority on beverage alcohol today, narrates the Beam saga with a passion for his subject.




The Wines of Bordeaux: Vintages and Tasting Notes 1952-2003
By Clive Coates, M.W.
The University of California Press/2004
ISBN: 0-520-23573-8 $60.00/hardcover

Comments: I've long admired the observations of Englishman Clive Coates on the wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. This 720-page tome is Mr Coates's latest book, one that brims with the most complete data on Bordeaux that I know of. Part One paints the intricate picture of Bordeaux in its multitudinous, often disparate parts as Mr Coates breaks down the massive region district by district, commune by commune, property by property. His keen explanations of soil types, vineyard locations, grape varieties, and topography and how those key components each impact the individual chateaux are masterful, clear, and entertaining.

In Part Two, Mr Coates's rapier-sharp palate begins with the 2003 vintage and assesses the key wines from the key vintages. Thankfully, Mr Coates wisely skips over inconsequential vintages and properties and focuses on the ones worth discussing. Eleven maps illustrate the major sections. What's so good about the to-the-point Mr Coates is, as opposed to some other wine critics, he's not concerned with building a larger than life persona as much as simply reporting with great dexterity and insight on the wines that he admires. This is an excellent resource for all lovers of fine red and white wine.


SHAKEN AND STIRRED: Through the Martini Glass and Other Drinking Adventures
By William L. Hamilton
HarperCollins/2004
ISBN: 0-06-074044-2 $17.95/hardcover

Comments: A collection of articles published in the New York Times by the newspaper's cocktail columnist, William L. Hamilton. Hamilton's ability to draw black-and-white scenes through words, acute observation, and searing sardonic humor make this short book (228 pages) as pleasurable and fiery as a wickedly dry gin martini. The writing is first rate (it does appear in the Times, after all), bare bones, and hilarious in its understatement.

Using just one example, Hamilton's story titled "Deep Tissue/The Union Cocktail" takes him deep into the dubious world of a murky downtown Manhattan, meatpacking district bar called the Pop Burger. The mixed drinks that Hamilton is reviewing are called The Pink Panty Pulldown, the Flirtini, the Cosmopolitang, and the Union Cocktail. His adventures with the grumpy bartender and a cue ball-headed weirdo with thick black eyeglasses are beyond funny. Each article is almost like the short screenplay of a potential film directed by Steve Buscemi. This is seriously good, seriously funny stuff.


RUM
by Dave Broom
Photography: Jason Lowe
Publisher: Wine Appreciation Guild, San Francisco, CA
ISBN: 1-891267-62-0. US Price: $45.00
Highest Recommendation

Rum as a distilled spirit category is finally coming into its own by moving past its largely negative history (which is well told in this book) and by focusing on its many virtues, virtues that hold much attraction in the contemporary drinking world. But RUM is not only rum's finest chronicle and biography to date it is likewise a remarkable visual treat due to the sometimes stunning, always alluring color photography of Jason Lowe. As much as Broom's crisp copy captures the heartbeat of rum in the raw by spending ample time describing the people who make it, Lowe's unforgettable images of face and places sear into one's brain. Author Broom wisely includes tasting notes and ratings (more than a few of which I agreed with) at the end. All in all, RUM is a sweeping, honest, and thorough account of the largely misunderstood spirit of the tropics. Bravo, Dave and Jason.


365 COCKTAILS Mixers - Shakers - Shots: The Complete Bartender's Guide
by Brian Lucas
Photography: William Lingwood
Publisher: Duncan Baird/Trafalgar Square Publishing, North Pomfret, VT I
SBN: 1-904292-73-9. US Price: $19.95
Not Recommended

Overall, I mildly liked this cocktail tome, though I could think of a half dozen other cocktail books that run rings around it. Things right with it include the makes-sense grouping of recipes by the base spirit, meaning vodka, gin, tequila, etc. I also liked the clever inclusion of a nifty service guide with each recipe that suggests the proper kind of glass to use, how much alcohol is in the drink based on a one-to-five circle rating, and the author's personal like/dislike for the recipe as depicted via a one-to-five star rating.
      Things I don't like are the unabashedly cheesy, washed out photographs that look like public domain stock photos, the Still Photography/Layout 101 presentation, and the clunky, unwieldy size of the book. The book is laid out as if not enough editorial copy was submitted and the publisher had to scramble to fill space by producing oversize pictures of fuzzy, blurry cocktails. Much of the information is good but 365 COCKTAILS looks woefully cheap. Whatever you do, don't give it as a gift.




THE COMPLETE BOOK OF MIXED DRINKS
The Revised Edition
by Anthony Dias Blue
Quill/HarperCollins, $17.95
Highly Recommended

NOTES: Aside from the wealth of valuable and practical home bartending and drink-making information, to me the best part of Blue's updated cocktail tome is how the drinks recipes themselves are presented in categories of Classics (the old standards), Creative Concoctions (often new and exciting recipes), Signature Drinks (of famous watering holes), Hot Drinks. This format clearly illustrates for the reader the wide spectrum of possibilities for each variety of distilled spirit base ingredient. This is the perfect book touched with Blue's no-nonsense, entertaining style for those just getting interested in cocktails as well as seasoned veterans looking for some new adventures. Over 1,000 recipes.


THE NEW AMERICAN BARTENDER'S GUIDE
by John J. Poister
New American Library, $14.00
Highly Recommended

Packed with over 2,300 mixed drink recipes, the updated NABG is an indispensable guide for any amateur or professional bartender. But more than the hundreds of original, new and standard recipes, Poister's keen insights into the art of bartending, presented as "Bartender's Secrets" sidebars, and the world of distilled spirits are what drive this book and make it so worthwhile. Very few bartending books contain so much on-the-mark material that can help make mixology so fulfilling.


THE CRAFT OF THE COCKTAIL
Everything You Need to Know to Be A Master Bartender, with 500 Recipes
by Dale DeGroff
Photographs by George Erml, Clarkson Potter/Publishers 2002, Hardcover $35.00
Highest Recommendation

NOTES: Upside is Dale DeGroff himself, America's pre-eminent cocktail-meister/historian and the decades of bartending savvy, insight and wisdom that he brings to the table. DeGroff's grasp of cocktail lore and history makes this the best record of mixed drinks that I know of. Yet he doesn't dwell completely on the past when it comes to his recipes. DeGroff is the consummate mixologist who is constantly aware of the newest and most exciting spirits and other ingredients entering the marketplace. With his recipes, DeGroff often explains what the ingredients are, how they evolved, and why he's using them. Craft is a bartending clinic. Not only is Craft practical reading, it's fun reading. Without any doubt, the new gold standard of cocktail books and one which I personally doubt will ever be equaled, much less surpassed. This is the cocktail culture equivalent of Joe DiMaggio's 56 game record. A classic already.

Downside - None, other than not owning a copy.



MICHAEL BROADBENT'S VINTAGE WINE
Fifty Years of Tasting Three Centuries of Wines
by Michael Broadbent
Harcourt 2002. Hardcover $50.00
Highly Recommended

NOTES: Upside - A remarkable chronicle of the evolution of mostly European wines (though there are mildly insightful chapters on California, Australia-New Zealand and South Africa) as experienced first-hand by the keen taste buds of Michael Broadbent, who as a true wine critic isn't afraid to say that a wine is uninspiring. THE book to have for anyone interested in red and white Bordeaux, Vintage Port, German whites and red and white Burgundy, in particular. The vintage ratings and discussions alone are worth the fare.

Downside - Though I fully understand that Broadbent's position at Christie's auction house guided his direction to the wines of Europe, his viewpoints are so pointed and authoritative that the paucity of New World wine coverage makes me yearn for more. The sole other negative is that there's only one Michael Broadbent.

© 2008 F. Paul Pacult
All rights reserved.

 

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