Most of you will know of Jim Murray. After all, he is arguably the most famous whisky writer there is. Like him or not, this makes him a man of some distinction in our beautiful, mad whisky world. What follows is a few words about his career and life.
Jim Murray started his career working as a national newspaper journalist with the Sunday People and Daily Star, and his first book was a history of his beloved Millwall Football Club: Millwall: Lions of the South (1988).
Despite his success, Murray made the decision to leave Fleet Street after 13 years, and set out to become the world's first-ever full-time whisky writer. His decision was vindicated, with the well-received 1994 release of Jim Murray's Irish Whiskey Almanac, which he followed with other notable publications such as Jim Murray's Complete Book of Whisky (1997), Classic Bourbon, Tennessee & Rye (1998), and Classic Blended Scotch (1999).
His most famous work, however, since becoming a full-time dram-man, is without doubt Jim Murray's Whisky Bible, an ongoing series that began in 2003. Styled as a compact guide, it’s a comprehensive index of every whisky that Murray (and a team of researchers) were able to source in a given year. Each one has a review that follows from a tasting by Jim Murray – and only Jim Murray – with four key criteria: nose, taste, finish and balance. Each is awarded marks out of 25, giving a total potential mark of 100 points.
Since the release of Jim Murray's Whisky Bible, he has sold more than 750,000 copies of his many books in various languages across more than 30 countries. His contributions have been recognised countless times, he has won the Glenfiddich Whisky Writer of the Year award three times, and he also chairs the the International Wine and Spirit Competition. Murray is also an inductee in the Bourbon Hall of Fame and has been asked to become a Keeper of the Quaich many times, although he declined the offers.
But alas! With such fame and success comes detractors. Murray possesses a complicated relationship within the whisky world, particularly when it comes to his Whisky Bible. Given that he has to advertise his product not once but every year, some doubt that he prioritises an honest opinion over a marketable one, or that anybody could consume the amount of whisky he claims to have tried since he has been working on the Whisky Bible and live.
Such criticisms are easy to make, and many forget that the Whisky Bible serves a purpose. In the words of the man himself: “The whole point of the Bible is to actually enjoy the whisky.” It’s worth remembering that, when it comes to whisky, this is a topic that isn’t reduced by subjectivity; it is liberated by it. In this democratic space where we all have a legitimate voice, the works of someone like Jim Murray can help people find confidence in theirs.
For those green in the world of whisky, the Bible offers a great template to learn how to take part, and any professional whisky writer is lying if they say they haven’t given it at least a glance for some compartmentalised wisdom every now and again.
Put simply, Jim Murray is an expert on whisky. For more than 20 years he has made this his living, and for more than 20 years he has earned the right to so. Ultimately, he knows his shit. The man’s living the dream, one dram at a time.
You can purchase his latest Whisky Bible, as always, right here.