We were transported into the library of a stately home, the scent from a bunch of fresh flowers on the varnished centre table mingling with aromas of old leather and tobacco. On the palate, we dined on smoky orange-glazed duck breast served with a sauce blending triple sec, red wine and thyme. Reduction shifted us to the shoreline, eating sweet chilli-barbecued prawns and a warm grilled lobster salad with lemon and thyme butter. We finished with a perfectly ‘thymed’ smoky Manhattan using equal measures of sweet and dry vermouth and garnished with a sprig of thyme. Following 24 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a second fill 300-litre cask previously containing cabernet sauvignon.