A thousand a bottle

A VERY happy liquid lunch at the Glenkinchie distillery -- five whiskies sampled, in order of preference: Haig Club single grain, a triumph of style and hype over lack of substance (and you can keep it, Mr Beckham); Glenkinchie,

a lowland malt that I'm sure is more enjoyable with the smell of the stuff all around as you drink it in the distillery; 14-year-old Clynelish,

which deserves further investigation; smoky and peppery Talisker,

curry in a glass and always a favourite of mine; and the star of the show, offered to a couple of us after the others had left, a very rare Mortlach that I wish I could get more of. But I can't afford to. I've just found out on the interweb that it spent 32 years in sherry casks before it was bottled in 1971, and how much a bottle would cost: £999!