(Photo Credit: YouTube – click on the picture to watch an interview)
Jim Murray is arguably at present the world’s leading whisky critic. It is reported that he has sampled over 4000 whiskies. Could you imagine the luxurious position to be in so as to sample and critique the best whiskies in the world? However, make no mistake, he earned each drop of success.
Murray was born November 13th, 1957 in Merstham, a small village approximately 25 kilometers south of London, England. Most sources suggest that when he was just 16 years of age he hosted his own television show in Northamptonshire called “Murray on Monday.” Murray would report on local sporting events. He was so passionate about sporting events that he even wrote his own book about sports, “Millwall: Lions of the South.” If you’re interested in picking up a copy Amazon sells a few, and here’s the link:
One of Murray’s initial claims to fame was becoming the world’s first fulltime whisky writer. This move came after spending 13 years as a newspaper journalist; while working as a journalist he would travel to visit distilleries to sample their whiskies and apparently even work in the distilleries during his free time. Following the move to leave his job as a journalist vindication came when in 1994 he released the well received “Jim Murray’s Irish Whiskey Almanac.” Following this publication he released other praise worthy books including “Jim Murray’s Complete Book of Whisky” (1997), “Classic Bourbon, Tennessee & Rye” (1998), and “Classic Blended Scotch” (1999).
What makes Murray unique is that he does not mind going against the grain; he will give an honest evaluation of a whisky, one that is unguarded. Murray’s candid evaluations combined with his experience are some of the reasons his reviews are so highly regarded and are such trustworthy sources of information. His latest and greatest book is in a series the first of which was released in 2003, “Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.” This book is released on an annual basis and encapsulates a library of every whisky Murray has tasted, including a score of each whisky. Each whisky is scored out of 100 points with 25 points being divvied up equally between nose, taste, finish, and balance. If you’re looking for a copy of Murray’s Whisky Bible, and who wouldn’t be, Amazon sells them here:
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Bibliography:
Master of Malt: https://www.masterofmalt.com/distilleries/jim-murray-books/
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible: https://whiskybible.com/dram-good-book-shop/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Murray_(whisky_writer)
(Photo Credit: ScotsUSA)
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