The Glenmorangie Highland Home at Cadboll

The very name of Glenmorangie should make whisky fans' ears prick up, and this splendid operation caters for malt-loving foodies in fine style. The 17th-century house is a secluded bolt-hole sitting amid the ruins of a castle with its own beach on the wild Dornoch Firth. Expect a chatty sort of occasion, as you dine house-party style at a long banqueting table decked out with candles, fresh flowers, silver and crystal after meeting other diners over drinks in the drawing room. It's a supremely accomplished set-up. Produce is A1 throughout, drawing on fresh ingredients from the walled kitchen gardens and orchards, fish from local boats, and game from nearby estates. A classically-trained team delivers dishes in a modern Scottish idiom: dinner might kick off with confit duck leg and foie gras with Madeira jelly and toasted brioche, then move on to roast fillet and braised shin of beef with fondant potatoes and port wine jus, and finish with roasted peach with cherries and pistachio cream.