Talk about vintage champagne - some lucky bastard just found the world’s oldest bottle of Veuve Clicquot lying around his Scottish castle in a dusty cabinet that’d been locked up for the last 100 years.

Chris James, the current owner of Torosay Castle on the Isle of Mull off Scotland’s west coast told the London Telegraph he’d long been meaning to have a peek inside the cupboard, for which he had no key. After finally enlisting the help of a locksmith, James discovered the original owner’s personal booze stash, including bottles of claret and brandy, a decanter of port, and an unopened bottle of 1893 Veuve yellow label in mint condition, thanks to the cellar-like conditions that prevail in old Scottish castles. He contacted the company who informed him the ancient bubbly was literally priceless.

More on the priceless bottle»

We’ve been a little hard on plaid lately…but maybe it’s because we haven’t seen anything from a real Scot.

This Tartaned trench comes from one more of J. Crew’s impeccable collaborations. This time, it’s the Scottish brand Mackintosh: the company more responsible than any other for protecting the Britons from near-constant rain. Their first collab showed up at the Tribeca store in a flat navy, but they just updated it into a plaid that gives it a little more cultural charm.

It might venture a little below the waist, but in this case we’ll make an exception.

Being men of the world, we tend not to look to Dear Abby for sartorial advice. And this week, we were reminded why.

In Wednesday’s paper (via The Cut), she took up the question of a Pennsylvania man who, as he delicately puts it, “wears skirts for comfort.” Her advice? “As long as you have the testicular fortitude and shapely enough legs to wear skirts, then you have my blessing.” Oh dear…

The case in full»

Now that loose knits are taking off, it may be time to take another look at Scotland. They’ve been working on the loose sweater for a few centuries now, and mixed in with a Highland tweeds, it may the best equipment you can find for next winter.

Coventry is our favorite Scot so far. Coming from menswear vet Matthew Terry, the label combines traditional Shetland wools with a paint-it-black design aesthetic not that far from downtown staples like Comme Des Garcons.

They’re unveiling their F/W 09 line in a scant few weeks, but this sketch comes straight from Mr. Terry’s pad, which suggests there are a few plaid overcoats in our future.

See a few looks from previous lines»

It’s always nice to see an entire event devoted to a single item of clothing. And we’ve always had a soft spot for the kilt in particular…

So we had high hopes for Dressed to Kilt, a charity fashion show put on by Homecoming Scotland 2009, and boasting more tartan than we’ve ever seen in one place.

Of course, we were most impressed by the GEICO caveman—we were big fans of the show—but there were a few other noteworthy models too»

Naturally, the most interesting folks at Dressed to Kilt weren’t necessarily on the runway. And while we saw our share of kilts, the more common choice was just to throw in as much plaid as possible as a more inventive way of staying true to Scotland. Which lead to some interesting choices…

Think of it from a sporting perspective: whoever wears the most plaid and looks the best wins. It’s not a bad sartorial challenge, and the result was nothing short of enlightening.

Our takeaway? Without fail, the best dressed gentlemen in the crowd were rocking plaid blazers and bowties. We saw the occasional kilt too, but as far as mainstream style items, we’d put our bets on tartan jackets first.

One advantage of the newly global market: It’s remarkably easy to trace heritage looks back to the source. That means Tokyo hipsters can order their Red Wings direct from the source but also—more relevantly—there’s no point relying on stateside Fair Isle recreations. Scotland’s just a few clicks away.

For instance, the norsemen at Oi Polloi dug up this appropriately patterned scarf from Jamieson’s to remind us of just that. Technically it’s from Scotland’s Shetland Islands, just north of Fair Isle itself, and all the wool is grown, harvested, processed and knit onsite, making it very much the real deal. Even accounting for exchange rates and shipping, it won’t set you back much more than the stateside mass market version.

Unless your wardrobe’s already pretty twee, your best bet might be using it as a gift for a female acquaintance, but it’s a lot more versatile than it looks. And if it’s warm enough to withstand the Scottish winter, we doubt the Northeast will be much of a challenge.