• Published by The Porpoise Press, [Edinburgh], 1930, (1st edition).
• Octavo, 135 pages.
• Written by ‘Aeneas MacDonald’ [George Malcolm Thomson OBE (1899-1996)], a Scottish National and journalist, who here adopts the pseudonym of one of the ‘Seven Men of Moidart’. Apparently, even strident nationalists defer to their mothers - Thompson’s mother was a teetotaller, so Thomson wrote this pro-Whisky screed incognito!
• ‘Whisky’ is considered to be “perhaps the earliest modern book on whisky and certainly the first to treat the subject from the point of view of the drinker. It provides a passionate and energetic deference of the interests of the consumer against the producers and, well ahead of its time, promotes single malt whisky over blends.’ (Whiskipedia)
• The book was written at the start of the Great Depression when Prohibitionism was in the ascendancy in the United States.
• SCARCITY: Despite the importance of the book, it remained virtually unobtainable (in this first edition) until a new edition was published by Canongate in 2006.
• PRICE COMPARISON: Only two other copies for sale with dust jackets, at US$1,000 and US$2,000 respectively.