Sorry I haven’t written for a while, but my mind has been elsewhere. Hopefully this will be the start of a new series of stories for you about my wonderful whisky experiences.

Currently, the most expensive whisky in my collection is the Macallan 21 year old/fine oak. A mere £130.00 from Milroy’s in London. Nothing compared to some. A great friend of mine recently bought a Laphroig for £2,300 - out of my range I’m afraid - but it was wonderful.

My Macallan has the beautiful light amber hew I would expect from this Speyside special, offering just the right rich aroma of vanilla and passion fruit and is soft enough on the palate. Even the length is perfect, finishing with hints of wood smoke. It is truly a refined and, to me, a near perfect dram.

So what a treat to find London’s Whisky Show offering to each visitor a token for one “ultra-premium” dram (except for those with the special gift of chat). Let me tell you what was on offer. It reads like the entrants into the ultimate beauty contest. The choice was:

Ardbeg 1976, Auchentoshan 1978, Balblair 1965, Dalmore 40, Fettercairn 40, Glenfarclas 50, Glengoyne 40, Hankey Bannister 40, Hibiki 30, Highland Park 40, Macallan 1938 and 65 year old, Springbank 40, Glenlivet 1973, Whyte & MacKay 40.

If I was only to sample one, I think I would have had a personality crisis - no way to chose. In the end, I can report that I sampled seven of them and one more that wasn’t even on the list - I’ll tell you about that one later.

How to decide. Some were immediately discounted, probably my whisky snobbery - no blends - and others I just didn’t fancy. That left me with the Glenfarclas, Glengoyne, Highland Park, Macallan, Springbank, Glenlivet (of course) and the Dalmore (which is a story in itself, and one for another time). I negotiated at each stand that I wanted to sample their ultra-premium variety, without the prescribed token, which worked in all bar one. I spent my token on the Springbank. To give an you an idea of worth, the most expensive of these was the Glengoyne which sells at £3,450 - however wonderful and very beautifully packaged, I couldn’t value it that highly. The least costly would be the Highland Park; at only £750 it seems like great value.

Indulge me for a moment - close your eyes and think of the perfect malt, where did you taste it, what was happening around you, who were you with. If you are like me, you can transport yourself to places in the world, with friends, family and colleagues, bitterly cold mornings and steaming hot evenings - each memory associated with a whicky.

So the question is, which was your most expensive taster - and was it the best? In my case the most expensive was clearly not the best; for my most favoured “ultra premium dram” I’ll take the Glenlivet 1964 any time. Thanks to Jim for introducing it to me and I an for the most recent sharing.

Let’s get some repsonse.