Burns Night 2026

Leave the clichés and AI at home…

Burns Night

2026

Enter our annual poetry competition and win big prizes.

Celebrate Burns Night with whisky & words

Burns Night, held every year on 25 January, is the one night where poetry is not only encouraged but expected.

That's why, each year, we mark the occasion by inviting our community to step into Burns’ boots and put pen to paper. Our annual poetry competition is your chance to step into the great man's shoes and win big.

Whether you channel Burns himself, write something that makes us laugh, or craft a few lines that demand an immediate dram, you could be rewarded witha bundle of SIX single malt Scotch whiskies.

The best entries will be rewarded with meaningful whisky prizes, judged by a team that wants to revel in your creativity and originality. And will throw anything written with AI into the nearest black hole.

Enter now. Don't regret not backing yourself to win.

Top whisky for Burns Night 2026

We have selected three whiskies that feel right at home on Burns Night. These are drams with character, confidence and enough depth to stand up to a second helping of haggis. Whether you prefer Highland richness, sherried indulgence or bright island charm, these are whiskies Burns himself would not have ignored.

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Balvenie 14 Year Old Caribbean Cask

70cl • 43% ABV

Product

Tasting notes

A Burns Night dram that brings warmth, generosity and just a hint of mischief. Honeyed malt meets soft spice and rum-soaked sweetness, making it a crowd-pleaser that still has enough depth to keep the poets happy and the toasts flowing. It is generous, welcoming, and quietly indulgent, making it a brilliant all-rounder for a long evening of speeches, food, and refilled glasses.

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Island Single Malt Whisky

Ledaig 18 Year Old

70cl • 46.3% ABV

Product

Tasting notes

Burns Night can get heavy quickly. Big food, long speeches, enthusiastic poetry. This is the dram that keeps things moving. Ledaig 18 has smoke, a coastal punch, and a savoury, slightly brooding edge that suits a rich supper perfectly. It also has weight and maturity without losing its wild streak. This is the Burns Night dram for those who like peat, but not the prices that often come with it.

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Highland Single Malt Whisky

The Glendronach - Ode to the Valley

70cl • 46.2% ABV

Product

Tasting notes

GlenDronach Ode to the Valley leans into the distillery's deep and dark sherried house style, then takes it one step further with the addition of Port casks. This won't get lost among the haggis, neeps, tatties, or the general chaos of the evening. It feels indulgent without being flashy and works just as well for sipping quietly as it does for topping up generous glasses.

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More drams for the Bard

Because one whisky is never enough on Burns Night

Laphroaig 18 Year Old

70cl • 48% ABV

Laphroaig 18 is a head-turner. People see the cork pop on this bad boy, and they know they're in for a treat. The sole use of bourbon casks is a great choice, it keeps the distillery’s unmistakable character but smooths out the sharp edges. The smoke is deeper, calmer, and more layered, making it ideal for the later stages of Burns Night when things slow down, and conversation gets a bit more thoughtful. It's not a novelty, or a dare, but a proper whisky that deserves the respect of a drinker who understands the liquid and appreciating it best means taking your time.

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Talisker 10 year old

70cl • 45.8% ABV

Talisker 10 is a MoM favourite for a reason. That blend of peppery spice, coastal energy, and savoury smoke is as timeless as a sunset on the Isle of Skye. Reliable, characterful, and always welcome at the table, it needs no introduction or explanation among whisky lovers. You pour, people nod, and the night goes on.

"The king o' drinks, as I conceive it, Talisker, Isla, or Glenlivet!"

Not Burns, but Robert Louis Stevenson. Still ace.

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Glenfarclas 15 Year Old

70cl • 46% ABV

This is the whisky you reach for when you want something that simply works. Glenfarclas 15 is sherried, warming and deeply familiar in the best possible way. It feels right on Burns Night without making a fuss about it. Generous, comforting and endlessly drinkable, it is the sort of dram that disappears faster than you expect, especially when the toasts start coming thick and fast. We think it's probably a safe bet that Burns wrote poetry while under the inspiration of whisky, and we imagine it was exactly this kind of dram he enjoyed.

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A Drinks by the Dram Burns Night tasting set on a tartan tablecloth dinner setting.

The burns night

Tasting Sets

Honour the Bard with six exceptional drams worthy of a fine toast. Whether shared with friends or enjoyed in quiet reflection, each sip celebrates tradition, poetry, and the spirit of Scotland. Slàinte mhath!

Whisky

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Contains

Six 30ml Drams

Dalmore 12 Year Old
Caol Ila Moch

Kingsbarns 5 Year Old

Craigellachie 13 Year old
Benriach The Original Ten

Aberfeldy 12 Year Old

Premium Whisky

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Contains

Six 30ml Drams

Aberlour 16 Year Old Double Cask Matured

Balblair 15 Year Old

Dalmore Cigar Malt

Glenallachie 12 Year Old 2012 (cask 2083) - Bourbon Cask

Strathisla 15 Year Old Pedro Ximénez Cask Finish (Darkness)

Mortlach 16 Year Old

The

Burns Night

Edition

Secret Highland distillery

single malt scotch whisky

aged 16 years

70cl • 50.5%

Robert Burns believed poetry was for fun, natural pleasure, and expressing truth.

More than any other tool at our disposal, words, when properly organised, can convey complex emotions, build understanding, condense deep observations into evocative turns of phrase fostering connection, joy, and deeper awareness of our place in the cosmos.

But whisky comes a close second.

This Burns Night, we have chosen a stunning cask of 16 year old Highland single malt whisky for toasting the haggis, the immortal memory, the lassies and the laddies. But it works just as well on the other 364 days of the year.

This is a whisky well-suited to the supper table, rich and satisfying, but also a dram to contemplate the highs and lows or past year, each sip “like the snow-fall in the river, a moment white, then melts forever.”

Orange • Ginger • Toffee

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Strictly limited to 399 bottles

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