Book Review: Distillery Cats

Today we review the short illustrated book Distillery Cats: Profiles in Courage of the World’s Most Spirited Mousers, by Brad Thomas Parsons, with illustrations by Julia Kuo. Some cats have important jobs, of course, and some of those jobs are in distilleries and breweries. It makes purrfect sense: Brewing and distilling rely on grains such as wheat, rye, barley, and corn, and those are the very things that attract mice and rats, which can ruin the supplies. So, quite a few establishments have discovered that cats can take care of the rodent problem. One of the world’s most famous distillery cats was Towser the Mouser, who patrolled Scotland’s Glenturret Distillery for 24 years (1963–87), in which time she caught 28,899 mice. She recently had a cask of whisky named after her.

Distillery Cats profiles 30 US-based cats who patrol breweries and distilleries from Seattle to New York. We’ve picked out a few of our favorites to share. There’s Cho, the head mouser at Sound Spirits in Seattle. He is a 7-year-old black cat (perhaps we should call him a distillery panther?) whose name is from the chemical formula of ethanol (C₂H₆O) and whose superpower is “being handsome all the time.” There’s Cork (“Corky Pants”), the shipping box specialist at Olde York Farm Distillery and Cooperage in Hudson, New York. She’s a one-year-old tortie whose superpower is “camouflage,” and yet she can’t stop the distillery ducks from following her around.

Of course we have to mention cats from our home state of Maryland. First up are HellRazer and the DuClaws of Baltimore’s DuClaw Brewing Company. They’re a quartet of young tabbies who mostly play a lot (but we’re sure they scare the bejesus of mice too). You can follow them on Instagram. And then there’s Vocal of the Tenth Ward Distilling Company in Frederick. Vocal is a four-year-old gray and white male whose superpower is “making an entrance” and who keeps a tally of pests he has killed (mice are top of the list). He shows up on Tenth Ward’s Instagram from time to time.

Each cat profile in the book is accompanied by an illustration and that cat’s most important stats: their age, sex, coat color and/or breed, job titles, superpowers, favorite toys, best friends.… You get the idea. Many of these cats have duties that go far beyond mousing. They’re also brand ambassadors who enjoy hanging out with visitors and are a highlight on public tours. Several of them have their own social media accounts too.

Our verdict

We loved Distillery Cats, and we have flipped back through its pages several times since we read it, just enjoying some of the stories again. I forgot to mention that the book includes drink recipes from the featured distilleries (old SoLT isn’t a drinker, so this part was of less interest to her) as well as cat quotes from the likes of Mark Twain and Edward Gorey. The cat profiles are a joy to read, and the illustrations are a delight. The book is nicely designed as well and has a lot of visual appeal, though the text may be a little small for some readers (we read the print version, but it is available for Kindle too). If you love cat stories, hardworking (and hard-napping) cats, and/or beer and spirits, we think you’ll love this book. And if you happen to have anyone who fits that description on your Christmas list, Distillery Cats would make a great gift.

Highly recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!