Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman’s Lifelong Discovery of Whisky

Sackier (The Antidote), director of distillery education at Virginia’s Reservoir Distillery, details her “unquenchable thirst” for all things whisky in this spirited and witty blend of memoir and booze history. After “develop[ing] a mad crush for whisky” upon a visit to Scotland in her 20s, Sackier found herself “pulled into... a history enrobed in devotion, pain, and deep desire.” She dives headlong into a personal and cultural look at whisky, from her first whiffs of burning peat to learning of a new vanguard of women whisky makers and drinkers staking their claim to the pleasures of a spirit long marketed to men—including “boozy broads” Lady Gaga and Mackmyra Svensk Whisky’s Angela D’Orazio, “who probably has the coolest job title of master blender and chief nose officer.” Along the way, she provides the basics of whisky tasting and “nosing;” elucidates why “it’s whisky with a Y not an E” (as opposed to its corn-based counterparts in America and Ireland, the “whisky” she refers to comprises only water, malted barley, and yeast, and is made in Scotland); and stirs in a moving narrative of her own whisky-fueled adventures, including an edifying internship at Bruichladdich Distillery in Scotland. The result yields an exhilarating taste of the world of whisky. (June)