Rare Book Review: The Publican's Guide
Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:57 amThe Publican's Guide: or Key to the Distill-House, Smyth, William Augustus. London: Harrison and Company, 1781. Preface, Contents, Appendices of tables, 104 pp.
This is a very interesting piece of distilling history. This is not so much a guide to how to make whiskey or other spirits, but how to purchase these goods for a public house in England. The author goes into detail as to how to guage for proof and to check for adulteration. His main concern are the spirits rum, brandy and geneva or gin. He discusses in some detail how these products are made but he does so mostly so that he can point out things to look for in the original, unadulterated spirit. The tables in the back are mostly price charts for Rum, Brandy and proof spirits for gin.
This is a good book for a whiskey library because it really illustrates just how unimportant whiskey was in the distilled spirits market of 18th century England. It really was in America that whiskey became popular as drink.
Mike Veach
This is a very interesting piece of distilling history. This is not so much a guide to how to make whiskey or other spirits, but how to purchase these goods for a public house in England. The author goes into detail as to how to guage for proof and to check for adulteration. His main concern are the spirits rum, brandy and geneva or gin. He discusses in some detail how these products are made but he does so mostly so that he can point out things to look for in the original, unadulterated spirit. The tables in the back are mostly price charts for Rum, Brandy and proof spirits for gin.
This is a good book for a whiskey library because it really illustrates just how unimportant whiskey was in the distilled spirits market of 18th century England. It really was in America that whiskey became popular as drink.
Mike Veach