Burns Night whisky is a must and so this year we’ve created our own new brand of Scotch whisky to mark the event: The Burns Night Blend.
Burns Night is the ultimate celebration of all things Scottish, an evening to celebrate the tremendous contributions and culture of all Scots, not just the Bard of Ayrshire himself. At Burns Night supper that means haggis, kilts, poetry, and best of all, Scotch whisky.
This year, we’re raising a glass to honour Robert Burns on his birthday, 25 January, with a whisky we’ve created ourselves. As this is the best excuse we get all year to splash out on a seriously good bottle of Scotch, we’ve created a beautiful blend of what he would have called “usquabae” to face the devil with (to loosely quote the incredible Tam O’Shanter).
You can buy our Burns Night Blend here, but we’d like to tell you all about it with our own Burnsian explanation of what you have before you.
Here it is, the perfect Burns Night whisky: The Burns Night Blend
The ballad of the blend
Because “suspense is worse than disappointment”, we dare share with you the recipe for this limited edition Scotch whisky, blended to commemorate the Scottish bard. “And there begins a lang digression about the lords o’ the creation.” Now, of course, we cannot disclose all of the ingredients of a Scotch whisky blend, but damn it we’ll try…
It begins with an eight-year-old grain whisky matured entirely in first-fill bourbon barrels from a location near “Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses, For honest men and bonnie lasses”, and thereafter increases with age as we go.
On the day of Robbie’s funeral, his wife Jean gave birth to their ninth child, Max, so two “nutty spicy” whiskies join the blend: one a Blair Athol for the child he never met, the other from Auchroisk, a distillery Burns will never have met (it was built over 100 years after his birth).
A beautifully floral Glentauchers “for simplicity and unaffected air” and a “warm-reekin’, rich” sherry butt of Tobermory, the only distillery in the blend founded in the century of Burns’ life.
Meaty Benrinnes and even meatier Craigellachie of the same vintage, both from ex-oloroso hogsheads cuz “we hae meat and we can eat, and sae the Lord be thankit”.
A whisper of smoke, like John Campbell taken from Islay for use on the mainland, from a secret Islay distillery, finished in sherry octaves.
“Nae man can tether time or tide”, but we’ve included ancient grain whisky from Edinburgh and an auld, auld malt from a secret Highland distillery (less than 30 miles from Ferintosh, “Thee Ferintosh! O sadly lost”)
Some ancient whisky features in this beauty
Burns Night whisky
So, for those who struggled with Scottish Lit, essentially this is a blend of malt and grain with whisky from distilleries across the Highlands, Speyside, Lowland, and Islay like Blair Athol, Craigellachie, Benrinnes, Tobermory, and more (including old and rare whisky from the eighties). It’s also 100% natural colour and non-chill filtered (even though it’s 40% ABV), and comes with a dashing blue label to celebrate its Scottishness. We hope you enjoy it and use it to toast The Bard on the night. It’s got all that decadent, rich fudgy sweetness you get from a good grain whisky as well as bright, fruity complexity and warming blend of spice. Basically, it’s dead tasty. You could even say it’s poetry in a bottle…
Slàinte Mhath, Robbie Burns.
The Burns Night Blend is available from Master of Malt.
The Burns Night Blend tasting note
Nose: Orange marmalade, creamy fudge, and apricot yoghurt are joined by notes of dark chocolate, buttery pastries (pain au chocolat?), vanilla, sherbet lemon, salted popcorn, ginger and toffee apple.
Palate: More of that gingerbread goodness as well as golden syrup, banana muffins, tablet, Crunchy Nut cornflakes, orchard fruit (apple and pears), and roasted peanuts.
Finish: Red chilli warmth and a tropical touch of fruit remain.
