Burns Night, marking the life and work of Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns, has always been about more than poetry, pipers and a ceremonious address to the Haggis.
At its heart, it is one of the great excuses to gather around a table, raise a glass, and take a moment to appreciate Scotland’s ability to turn food, drink, and storytelling into something quietly profound. In that sense, it is one of the most exciting nights in the culinary calendar, and you don’t need to be an expert: just curious and thirsty.
For whisky lovers, Burns’ Night is a proper gift. The traditional spread of haggis, neeps and tatties is rich, peppery and savoury, along with a touch of sweet creaminess, which makes it a surprisingly versatile partner for a wide spectrum of styles: think light and floral highland malts, fruity and spicy Speysiders and smoky, brooding Islay offerings ready to bring a touch of deep complexity and wonder to the proceedings.
This year, if you’re looking to up your game somewhat – away from the more traditionally available array of off-the-shelf whiskies – then look no further: here you’ll find a well-curated lineup of independently-owned distilleries, or limited-edition bottlings from specialists, several of which have a direct connection to Burns himself.
Rich; warm; reeking. Slante!
Annandale 10 Year Old, Man O’ Words
ABV
58.8%
Price
£85 / $114
Another direct homage to Burns from the Annandale distillery in Dumfries, where Burns lived out the last few years of his life as an Exercise Man before passing away in 1796.
This fitting tribute of a single malt is full of first-fill bourbon sweetness and vanilla, with a fresh, fruity note of green apples, soft ripe pears, and a distinctly toasted, spice-laden barbecue wood smoke note, which will be a superb accompaniment to the peppery richness of a freshly prepared haggis.
Berry Bros & Rudd, Ronnie’s Reserve (1979)
ABV
49.9%
Price
£1,000 / $1,400
From one great raconteur to another. No doubt had Burns been alive today, he would have become great friends with a certain Ronnie Cox, the now-happily retired, charismatic master of whisky for Berry Bros. & Rudd and a man whose stories, travels, and extensive whisky knowledge have become the stuff of folklore amongst the wider whisky community.
This bottling from 1979 is labelled as simply a ‘Speyside’ malt, but the clues as to its actual origins are cryptically laid out like a trail of breadcrumbs for those wanting to know more. As a dram, this is silky, complex, and beautifully aged, with beguiling honey notes, freshly polished wood, a touch of spicy sherry, dark chocolate, and candied fruit. It’s the sort of whisky with which one could sip the night away, listening in awe to two great raconteurs at the top of their game.
Thompson Bros, Glen Scotia “Dawny Port” 2015
ABV
53.3%
Price
£70/ $95
No, that’s not a typo. The ‘Dawny’ in question is Dawn Davies MW, the buying director for the The Whisky Exchange, who collaborated with cult indie bottling masters Thompson Bros. This smoky, fruit-bomb of a whisky, spent four of its 10 years in a tawny port cask. The fruit in question is a mixture of ripe strawberries, cherries, and baked apples, with a wonderful jamminess, alongside licorice and a touch of charred, woody smoke on the finish. Rustic, but somehow utterly majestic too.
White Peak Distillery, Elixir Trails 2018 Vintage
ABV
52.4%
Price
£85/ $115
An English outlier is always going to get plenty of attention at any Burns Night celebration, but putting all divisional differences aside for a second, Derbyshire’s White Peak distillery truly deserves its place as a whisky that Burns himself would be proud to raise a toast with.
Founded by husband-and-wife team, Max and Claire Vaughan, the couple have established a remarkable, rustic and smoky house-style to their whiskies, built on local brewing traditions and a few twists and turns when it comes to cask maturation.
This 2018 bottling, hand-selected by none other than Sukhinder Singh of Elixir Distillers (and former owner of The Whisky Exchange) is complex, with a wisp of fine smoke and delicately sweet barley notes.
Cambus, Master of Malt Single Cask 34 Year Old
ABV
47.2%
Price
£150 / $200
An English outlier is always going to get plenty of attention at any Burns Night celebration, but putting all divisional differences aside for a second, Derbyshire’s White Peak distillery truly deserves its place as a whisky that Burns himself would be proud to raise a toast with.
Founded by husband-and-wife team, Max and Claire Vaughan, the couple have established a remarkable, rustic, and smoky house-style to their whiskies, built on local brewing traditions and a few twists and turns when it comes to cask maturation.
This 2018 bottling, hand-selected by none other than Sukhinder Singh of Elixir Distillers (and former owner of The Whisky Exchange) is complex, with a wisp of fine smoke and delicately sweet barley notes.
Gordon & MacPhail, Benriach 24 Year Old
ABV
57.1%
Price
£225 / $302
Arguably the independent whisky retailer that started it all, Gordon & MacPhail is now into its 130th year of trading, tracing the family lineage back to a small grocery shop in Elgin.
The shop is still there, and the ambitions of the family have broadly diversified into distillery ownership, rather than simply supplying casks from other distillers. G&M owns of both Benromach and the recently built ‘The Cairn’ distillery in Grantown-on-Spey.
Connoisseurs Choice has been one of the most consistently reliable independent bottling ranges for decades, thanks to an incredible inventory of single casks and this Benriach from 1999 is testament to the mantra of ‘with patience brings great reward’: 492 bottles drawn from a refill sherry butt, you’ll find rich nuttiness, dark toffee, baking spices, and a beautifully balanced soft oak. A dram for contemplating Burns’s more introspective works, that’s for sure.
Lochlea 7 Year Old
ABV
50%
Price
£90 / $120
Lochlea is something of a revelation for the true connoisseur looking for something unusual yet peerlessly made. As new distilleries go, it certainly has all the hallmarks of a classic in the making: beginning production in 2018, on a farm home to 150 beef cattle, the ethos is very much on true grain-to-glass style, incorporating home-grown barley of different strains, to create a characterful, richly textured whisky.
What also ties in nicely to the celebrations is that Robert Burns actually lived and worked at Lochlea farm from 1777 to 1784, during his formative years. A youthful dram, but with all the wit and wisdom worthy of Burns’ finest musings.
