Iain Banks - Raw Spirit - and SF definition

[Montero]

Just reading Iain Banks's Raw Spirit (In search of the perfect dram) which is a lovely book of him and various friends, in different cars touring Scotland visiting distilleries and commenting on the journey, the distilleries, the whisky and generally having fun. Entertaining, funny and informative - next time I'm near the right sort of shop I'm going to see if I can afford to try a couple of the whiskies mentioned.

Anyway, as well as saying the book is one I think is worth reading, one bit I just had to put up on the forum was this:

"The Highlands; their identification and use.

The Highlands are a bit like science fiction; you generally know with some certainty when you're in the relevant area, but as soon as you start trying to define it you end up getting into all sorts of messes."

[JQH]

Just finished reading this. He refers to the Hotel Climbing Incident at the Brighton World Con and says that the rumour got around that he was a jewel thief (There was a break in at the hotel).

The version I heard at the time was that he'd been having an argument with a $ciento£ogist and wanted to continue it when the the $ciento£ogist returned to his room.

[Yawning Gulf]

I was quite pleased with this book till the end!
He says that Johnny Walker black is the best value "everyday" Whisky"! TOSH!
It costs a small fortune and is a blend.

Tullamore dew, an Irish whiskey is about a 1/3 of the price and rivals even some of the High-end Scotch singles. ( TullamoreDew is a single btw).
The whole book was 1 mighty Tax dodge drinking binge so I heartily applaud his efforts!.....if not his conclusions!

[The Procrastinator]

A mate of mine has this book as a toilet reader. I started it, and found it rather amusing actually, but did not spend enough time in the loo to get too far. Will continue it next time I visit her. Have to agree with Yawning Gulf though, what a great excuse for a binge all over Scotland!