'The only drink you want after it is more of it'

 In the supermarket yesterday morning I found myself talking whisky and Kingsley Amis with the chap behind the till, which was a pleasant surprise. I'd bought a bottle of Chivas Regal 12-year-old (vulgar, I know, but very drinkable – and, more to the point, on offer), and somehow we (the chap and I) got onto whisky brands you don't see any more – Haig, Vat 69 – and he came up with the MacAllan 10-year-old, a whisky that enjoyed a big vogue in the 1970s but was way beyond my means at the time. It was, he told me, the favourite whisky of toper supreme Kingsley Amis, who apparently slipped references to it into all his novels – I hadn't noticed, but will keep my eyes open in future. At least he didn't do any adverts for it  – unlike Sanderson (remember 'Very Kingsley Amis, Very Sanderson'?) – but it was clearly a drink he loved from the moment he discovered it, on tour of Speyside distilleries. The MacAllan 10-year-old, matured in sherry casks, was 'widely regarded in the trade as the king of malts,' Amis declared. 'The flavour's rich, even powerful, but completely smooth, as smooth as that of a fine Cognac, and immediately enjoyable ... The only drink you want after it is more of it.' 'No spirit known to me,' he raved, 'can touch it for sheer quantity of flavour, for smoothness and for – what would you call it? – duration, lastingness, the ability to go on hanging round the mouth and nose.' High praise, and from someone with unparalleled experience in the field. Despite Sir Kingsley's heartfelt endorsements, MacAllan discontinued this particular malt more than a decade ago, and bottles are only available at eye-watering prices. I think I'll be sticking to Chivas, or whatever else is going cheap.