Buying Guide to Spirits: More Than 1000 Distilled Spirits & Fortified Wines Reviewed by the Beverage Testing Institute

This is an excellent review and rating of the world of spirits hitting all of the major brands and types of spirits. There is nothing out there quite like it, and would easily garner 5 stars from me simply for having such a variety of listings and ratings if it were fully up-to-date with their reviews (www.tastings.com). You will find that your tastes likely diverge from their ratings, but they do offer some excellent advice nonetheless. They rate the drinks on a 100 point scale, and anything above about 85 will likley be a good choice for sampling or buying. Having said that, you should keep in mind that in the liquor world, things are always changing, new brands or bottlings are being introduced or discontinued, formulas are being altered, prices fluctuate (usually upwards in the realm of premium spirits!) and indeed the taste of the reviewers are changing as well. If you look at the societies website, you will see with their latest up-to-date ratings, some spirits have risen and others fallen. In some cases, if they were to update the book with a new edition, the ratings lists would look very different. The example of American Bourbons show almost all of the above 90 spirits have fallen to high 80's and low 90's on the website - which appears to me to be mostly the addition of a bunch of new high quality entries requiring a re-scaling rather than indications of a fall in quality.Still, this is an excellent starting point, and a good example of what should br a periodic publication from the BTI!

This is a great book that gives one ratings on all the world's major classes of spirits. It has a section that describes each type of spirit. Whiskies, Brandies, Rums, Vodkas, Gins, Tequilas, Liqueurs and fortified wines such as Port are covered. It covers spirits from the more inexpensive schnapps popular with the college crowd to the very pricey Scotchs and Cognacs. It rates each by a number and has tasting notes. An excellent way to choose, taste and expand ones knowledge of the world's spirits. While one may not agree with each rating, they seem to generally be in line with other guides. Remember, preferences are a matter of taste. Not everyone prefers the same things. This book is a great way to experiment.