Description
Seven generations of Dreichs have distilled malt whisky in the Glengeàrr and now Malcolm Dreich looks like being the last. Standing Cnut-like against the tides of postwar modernisation, Malcolm spurns the million dollar advances of an American corporation, but the unscrupulous Harvey Eaglebricker Jnr won’t take no for an answer.
When Harvey dams the Douglas Dhu spring and robs Dreich of its crystalline water supply, local ne’re-dae-well and smuggler Aindrea Strom offers the services of his Sgian Dubh (very sharp knife). Suspecting foul play, Exciseman Morley enlists mysterious German tourist Klutz Brunning and furnishes him with a Kodamatic®. The resultant pictorial evidence forms the basis of a murder enquiry but PC Archibald’s own suspicions lead him to The Drouthy – a rival distillery burnt to the ground in phantasmagorical circumstances. Legend has it the pyrotechnics were the work of the Copper Quine, a teenage ghost with strong opinions on alcoholism.
Is it possible that Dreich’s guardian angel has returned to save Malcolm and his distillery? Or is everyone drinking far too much uisge beatha? Pour yourself a richt guid dram, read on and find out. Slàinte!
“Not as long as I feared” – Charles Cree Doig.
“I appear to have missed both distilleries” – Alfred Barnard.
James Roberts is an adopted Scot who has lived in the Highlands for over twenty years. He works in the Speyside whisky industry and spends his days talking and writing about distilleries, their people and the liquid gold they create. He is married to Catriona, a Caithness girl with strong Glaswegian influences. His daughter Florence helps him feel old and out of touch with popular culture. James holds a PhD in History so there is no need to fact check his work. He relaxes by riding his e-bike, playing with his model trains and enjoying the occasional dram, though not always at the same time. The Dreich & The Drouthy is his first novel.