Reviews for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Celebrity, Memory, And Popular History

The average rating for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Celebrity, Memory, And Popular History based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-08-29 00:00:00 Michael Bland The Complete Book of Spirits is a broad survey of a very large field. For someone like myself, with huge gaping holes in my liquor knowledge, this was a very helpful reference. A brief, shallow guide like this is great when you know a little (or a lot) about certain portions of a subject but little to nothing about others. For example, having already read quite a bit about Tiki drinks, I already knew quite a bit about rum. But I knew very little about Scotch. Now I feel able to converse about both. The general information and histories of each spirit were dry, but readable. I most enjoyed the "Brand Profiles" portion in each chapter. Here, Blue explores the select specific manufacturers of a type of spirit. Many of these were very interesting, and I was surprised to learn about the rich and long histories of inexpensive everyday brands that have passed through my hands without a second thought. It's amazing how many centuries of history sit in our liquor shelves. However, I did not enjoy the Tasting Notes which concluded each chapter. These are page after page of dollar signs, stars and single-sentence reviews containing endless repetitions of phrases like "fresh and balanced," or "mellow and long." These might be helpful if you're about to go to the store to grab a bottle of something (or, like me, you tried to recognize brands from your own cabinet), but it's hardly riveting reading. Instead, I wish these had been rolled up into the Brand Profiles section where Blue could have written more interesting information about each item. Off the top of my head, I can think of only two examples where he broke from the pattern to make note of something extraordinary. One of them was for British Royal Navy Imperial Rum, in which he notes that it is "The world’s priciest rum, sourced from rare unused British navy reserves" before going on to say that it has "rich flavors with sublime notes of rancio." I just wish more of these little snippets of info accompanied the tasting notes.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-07-30 00:00:00 Russell Dossie Jr Most of the information in the book was obviously prompted from the alcohol distributers themselves. Incredibly PC, this is as informative as a label. A good portion of the information is also out of date. I found the 'vodka' and 'tequila' section particularly incomplete or outdated. Reads like a high school book report. Recommended only to the home drunk who wants to impress her friends with random alcohol stats and info.