A Christmas toast at the Dubber end

Putting the finishing touches on the year and thought I’d pause to raise a toast to everyone who helped make 2011 a good one for Clutch and I. We visited some lovely places, drank some astonishingly good whisky, met some wonderful people and had the opportunity to taste and write about some incredible drams.

Not every experience was a good one in 2011, of course. Every year has its ups and downs. Not every person we met was delightful, and not every dram was to our liking, but the positive far more than outweighed the negative and you don’t want to read about two blokes having a miserable time anyway, so we’ll gloss over that stuff.

Besides, look back over the blog and you’ll see how lucky we’ve been – and what unique experiences and opportunities that a love of whisky has brought to us over the past year.

So I just wanted to wish you – and particularly Clutch and family now tucked away in their brand new home way up in the north of Scotland – a very merry Christmas.

This is a Dalmore 1995 – it’s sweet, a little nutty with marzipan and dried fruits – with a medium to long finish of sherry trifle. The perfect Christmas dram, actually. To your health – and to a wonderful and prosperous 2012.

Sláinte.