Burns Night always feels like a particularly well-timed celebration. Hot on the heels of ‘Blue Monday’ – supposedly the most miserable day of the year – it’s certainly nice to have a reason to get merry. It also happens to be the perfect refutation to those killjoys determined to make Dry January the new Lent.
‘O thou, my muse! guid auld Scotch drink!’ So wrote Robert Burns in the winter of 1785 in his ode ‘Scotch Drink’. The Scottish bard’s love of the stuff is no surprise and no Burns Night celebration is complete without a few drams. Terroir matters – from peaty Islay to spicy Speyside malts; sweeter Highland to softer Lowland varieties – and so it is worth allowing yourself to roam geographically and to enjoy a range of categories: not just single malt, but blended malt, single grain and premium blends.
What follows is a mixture of established players and new starters. Everyone has their own taste, but here are a few bottles worth trying should you want to venture beyond your usual favourites. Perfect to stave off the January blues and to toast your ‘Address to a Haggis’ tonight.
Isle of Raasay Single Malt (£55)
From the young Isle of Raasay Distillery on the eponymous island, this fruity whisky is the result of peated and unpeated Raasay spirits individually matured in a combination of ex-rye whiskey, chinkapin oak and Bordeaux red wine casks, before being married together.
Glen Marnoch Highland Single Malt (£16.99)
As with so many products, Lidl and Aldi are disrupting the market with impressive quality and unrivalled value for money. At just £16.99 this malt sold by Aldi has flavours of dried fruit and cinnamon, with a decent long-lasting finish. Aldi also do Islay and Speyside malts in the same Glen Marnoch range.
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12-Year-Old Single Malt (£70)
Macallan’s reputation precedes it and this Oloroso sherry cask-matured whisky from Speyside has a complexity that makes it worth the money.
Rock Island Mezcal Edition Blended Malt (£57.95)
This whisky is finished in mezcal casks and so makes a fantastic whisky margarita. Combine 30ml of the whisky with 15ml Anejo tequila, 15ml fine orange liqueur and 30ml lime juice along with a dash of agave syrup (or to taste).
Oban’s 14-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch (£77.50)
This Scotch combines sweetness, dryness, spice and slight peatiness. Its oceanic geography also gives it a salty twang of coastal air.
Berry Bros & Rudd Sherry Cask Matured (£37.94)
Part of the classic range from Berry Bros., this beautifully coloured whisky carries big sherry character with notes of dried fruit and even marmalade.
Glenfiddich 15-Year-Old Solera (£47.69)
This Speyside whisky from William Grant & Sons is rich and spicy, and perfect for cocktails. Try using it in an Old Fashioned.
Coachbuilt Blended Scotch (£42)
Blended whiskies have traditionally been somewhat sneered at, but this Scotch made from a combination of whiskies from five Scottish regions shows the reputation is unfair. It is full-bodied with flavours of tropical fruit and toffee.
Lagavulin 16-Year-Old (£81.75)
For those that like their smoke, this whisky from Islay is perfect – it is intense and pungent and has something of a fanatical following.
Ardbeg Serendipity 12-Year-Old (£350)
Its name refers to its creation – a happy accident when incorrect whiskies were mixed together during distillation. The sweet and smoky result is an unusual expression worth trying, though it doesn’t come cheap.
Cocktail recipe: Glory and Majesty
While a straight-up dram is often the best way to drink whisky, there is certainly a place for cocktails too. Glory and Majesty is a creation of the Goring. The inclusion of mango essence is a tribute to the late Queen who was said to love the fruit. When recreating it at home, you can replace it with a dash of Angostura bitters or just leave it out.
Serves 1
What you need
– 35ml Chivas 12
– 15ml Mancino Rosso
– 15ml Mancino Dry
– 10ml Cadello Liqueur
– 1 teaspoon Fernet-Branca
– 1 drop mango essence
– Mango powder to garnish (optional)
How to make it
Add all the ingredients into a mixing glass and stir for 30 seconds. Moisten the rim or one side of a chilled Nick & Nora glass and dip the rim or side in a saucer of mango powder. Pour the cocktail into the garnished glass to serve.
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