The say distance makes the heart go fonder. Dougie returns to Ardnamurchan’s fair whisky shores after a long break and discovers what’s inside this 5 year old Unpeated Golden Promise Barley expression.

On a trapse to the Big Smoke to explore some whisky in his favourite bar, Doog catches the lurgy. But not before he discovers a belter of a Ben Nevis form Woodrows - and the concept of a bloodtub.

Before pitching two big-hitting, and not inexpensive, Glen Garioch bottlings against each other, Doog decides to wait for his bad mood to pass.

Sharing some things about the Isle of Skye that are both expected and unexpected, Dougie Crystal finds parallels in a glass of his, thus far ignored, local libation: Talisker.

Dougie takes another look at Glasgow 1770 with two releases: their Unpeated Cognac Cask Finish and Manzanilla Sherry Cask Fully Matured. In them he finds how a few key decisions made well can swing the opinion of many.

After a brand ambassador recommendation, Doog tucks into Pulteney’s Huddart, hoping for a coastal hit. He puts it up against an SMWS single cask for a bonus compo review too.

Shock horror, model son Dougie actually chooses to buy a whisky he knows to be 40%, chill-filtered and probably coloured. And yet, he finds a place where it fits perfectly, and no, it’s not down the sink.

Dougie, deliberately, seeks out the distillery that everyone has told him is terrible, he pulls the trigger on a bargain to discover “Jura is well worth the chase. Jura is magic whisky. Jura is hugely enjoyable and fun.” 😳

Itching to get his curious whisky face back on, Dougie heads to his local purveyor of whisky dreams. Running on nothing more than excitement and seat-of-his-pants selection, we’d like to tell you he lucked out, but, alas, no.

Let’s hand this tease over to the author; “But I reckon I’ve been blindsided by this ‘single cask’ truth and it’s making me wonder if anything is what it seems anymore.” Doog uncovers untruths…

Dougie encounters a home intruder, only to discover at his new home on the Isle of Skye, it’s ‘the done thing’. And anyway, this intruder brings a surprise mystery bottle of Foursquare finished Blended Malt Whisky from Mossburn.

Dougie battles from the Highlands to the Lowlands with nervy drives, fallen trees and slippery hills. Upon arrival he’s rewarded with a decent value Tawny Port Glencadam. Was it just rewards?

While reviewing those two Aqvavitae Ardnamurchan bottles, somehow, in so many incidental ways, Dougie highlights all of the things to be grateful for exploring whisky. Those high-energy, emotional, glowing, amber-inspired moments we all love to live for.

As we swing into boxing day, Doog finds an appropriate dram to utterly switch off with. The fact that he can pick it up for the equivalent of mere buttons, in whiskey terms, sweetens the already sweet deal.

In something of a follow up to Earie’s Shelter Point piece, we hear about Broddy’s visit to what may be his desert island distillery -The Netherland’s Zuidam, makers of Millstone. Dougie chimes in too.

Amazing gestures of generosity place Doog in the possession of two much celebrated special releases from Loch Lomond; the XL Fermentation DE3 goes up against Aqvavitae’s 2022 release.

It seems we’ve discovered the next rabbit hole that threatens to swallow our Doog for a while - that of Single Grain. Old, decadent, tasty and fairly priced stuff too.

A buddy-up review is required as Drummond and Dougie both have their beloved Ardna from rum casks to discuss. This wide but limited release is no doubt on a few Santa lists this year.

Dougie is caught trolling the dying embers of the auctions once more for bargains. What’s this he’s found? A very curious SMWS oddball he needs to decipher first, both in description and flavour. We suspect he’s hit the rye wall once more.

Looks fantastic, tastes fantastic, is fantastic. Spoilers. But it’s a Dougie review and we’re in it for more than just the TL;DR. So, is the £30 premium just to know that the barley came from down the road worth it?