Burns’ Night Whisky Guide

Scots around the world will be gearing up for Burns’ Night on Sunday. The 25th January 2009 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns – the famous Scottish poet who wrote in the native Scots language. His poems and songs covered love, nature and bawdiness. The traditional evening program involves a haggis, the Address to a Haggis and a Toast to the Lassies with many more recitations and performances thrown in.

A major feature of the Burns’ Night celebrations this Sunday will be Scotch whisky. But how is it best served and what should you choose? We spoke to Fernando Oliveira, head butler at the AA five-star Howard Hotel in Edinburgh, to find out more.

There are many ways to serve whisky, some like it with ginger ale or soda. However, hardened fans will tell you that there’s no accompaniment to a fine Scottish malt, except a quiet evening and a warm fire. Mr Oliveira says of his preference:

Whisky has no rules, we serve it as people prefer to drink it but my preferred option is to enjoy it straight – allowing me to appreciate its true palate. Adding a little water afterwards is common practice and releases new flavours. Alternatively, for regular blended whisky the options are varied but I prefer ice and perhaps with soda as a long cool drink.

Macallan Whisky

Indeed, the better whiskies reserved for Burns’ Night will often be served neat for the various toasts scattered throughout the evening. However, the traditional greasy fare of Burns’ night presents a peculiar problem of choosing a drink to match it. The “gushing entrails bright” are a flavoursome experience all of their own. With this in mind, should whisky be served exclusively after the meal and are there any whiskies which particularly complement haggis, neeps & tatties?

Definitely not, whisky can be enjoyed at all times! Some suggestions would be for breakfast with your porridge, for lunch as an aperitif, early evening as a cocktail, at dinner with Haggis, after dinner as a digestive or before bed as a night cap. For me personally choosing a whisky to complement a Burns Supper? I am not on commission, but Macallan would be my choice.

Macallan is famous for its sherry and bourbon imbued casks from Spain and America. These are then used to age the whiskies. No artificial colour is used, the hues of the Macallan whisky come solely from the interaction between whisky and wood. There are a few collectors’ editions of the old Macallan malts still available. These would have been made with the war years’ fuel of peat and coal – giving them a distinctive flavour reminiscent of the Island malts.

Fernando informs us that the Islay malts are among the best sellers at the Howard “because of their extreme flavours and characters.” But what I want to know is the identity of his personal favourite:-

Being Portuguese I favour Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban, which is matured in Port casks. I just follow my nose wherever it takes me but Macallan and Highland Park are perhaps my next choice but for totally different reasons and for different occasions.

Rebus 20 Special Edition Highland Park Malt

Highland Park is made on the remote island or Orkney and is one of the most isolated Scotch whisky distilleries. Orkney appealed to the early whisky smugglers because of its outlying position – away from the eyes of the licensing authotrities. Its distinctive flavour comes from the Orkney peat used in its production and the Oloroso sherry oak casks used in the maturation.

Highland Park are so proud of their Scottish heritage that they have commissioned a special “Rebus 20″ whisky, to celebrate 20 years of the infamous Edinburgh detective, John Rebus, created by author Ian Rankin. The writer first published published “Knotts & Crosses” in 1987 and has been probing the underbelly of Edinburgh’s dark pubs and alleyways ever since. The character Rebus is famous for putting away copious amounts of Scotch whilst solving the most intricate mysteries.The Rebus 20 is not for sale but you find out more here.

For those who want to try some of these whiskies for themselves, the Howard Hotel offer a 2-day whisky tour from £309 per person which includes:

• Two night’s accommodation in individually designed bedrooms
• Full Scottish Breakfast served in the privacy of your bedroom or in the dining room “The Atholl”
• 3-course dinner in The Atholl dining room or served in your room by your butler
• A half bottle of great Scottish Single Malt and a traditional whisky snifter
• A deluxe hardback book on Scottish distilleries
• A tutored whisky tasting with a member of the butler team leading you through the best examples of single malts from the four main Whisky producing regions.
• £50 of vouchers to spend at Royal Mile Whiskies
• The Howard can also arrange for a trip to Glenkinchie Distillery in East Lothian – home of ‘The Edinburgh Malt’.
  

  The Howard Hotel, Edinburgh. Click on the image to visit

For those desperate to get their hands on some whisky in time for Sunday, your best bet is to add whisky to your grocery cart at Tesco’s Online Grocery Shopping. Tesco Wines is a different outfit and may take a few days’ delivery. Grocery orders will arrive on the designated Saturday delivery slot – if such a time is still available in your area. Otherwise, try our online shops for deliveries next week.The other alternative is to do the same with Asda groceries.