Classic Expressions is the initiative of two of Scotch whisky's most distinguished contemporary writers - Ian Buxton and Neil Wilson. This is the first in a series of reprints of great whisky writings now simply too scarce to be within the reach of most collectors. We have no doubt that these facsimile reproductions, complete with cd-rom version, and numbered in a limited edition of 300 copies, will themselves become quite scarce and sought after in the fullness of time. The first in the series is Joseph Pacy’s Reminiscences of a Gauger, which is one of the most important works of its period. Pacy spent some 40 years as a ‘gauger’ or Excise Officer in Scotland and England rising eventually to the rank of Collector in Lincoln. In 1873, after Pacy’s son had died tragically, he published this account of his life and work in an effort to raise funds for his son’s widow and four children who had been left destitute by their loss. All profits from the sale of the book went to his daughter-in-law. The book sheds much light, not only on the day-to-day routines of the Excise, but also airs Pacy’s often enlightened and controversial thoughts on the organisation of the Excise service and the adverse affects of high rates of duty on free trade. It also provides a dramatic and, at times, highly personal account of his work at a number of locations round the country. In particular, Pacy worked with the colourful and dogmatic Captain Fraser at Royal Brackla Distillery. His book is the only known contemporary account of Fraser at a time when this distillery (still in production today) was one of the most highly regarded in the whole of Scotland. “I know that I never encountered a man either in or out of the service that tested my courage, my prudence, or my honesty, more than this same distiller.” Previous to this in Campbeltown he broke a malt fraud ring. The account of this is extremely engaging as his professional duty is weighed up against his understanding of the reasons for the crime: “The difference of the tax on the two kinds of malt was a temptation to attempt to pass barley on the excise for bere and bigg, which, considering the regulations I have alluded to, was not easy to resist.” Reminiscences of a Gauger exists only in the rare 1873 edition and has never been reprinted. You might expect to pay £250-£300 for a good copy - if you could find one.
