Occasionally there are beautiful mornings when I feel like dancing merrily through life, smiling at children and kissing traffic wardens - but not often. Growling at children and kicking traffic wardens wouldn't lift my spirits after the breakfast I suffered today. Forced to endure RISE on channel 4 I felt obliged to describe the irritating presenters as 'cluless twits'. Matthew, my 14 year old son, defended them by claiming the 'clueless twits' earned "twice what you do, Dad". "There's more to life than money" I retorted smugly as the postman arrived with an overweight phone bill, stuffed with the fat of Vodaphone and Orange. As I started to explode, the chorus of 'more to life than money' drove me, cursing, from the kitchen. I've found myself stalking the house this evening, muttering 'Bladnoch, Bladnoch, Bladnoch' as a kind of mantra ever since the review bottle arrived. My spirits rise as I lock myself away from family life and pour a glass of the pale amber malt. Bladnoch seems a little more assertive than other Lowland malts, while still retaining the classic softness of its region. Citrus fruit and a little sherry - it could be Christmas morning as a child - I'm drifting back to happier times....