Happy Robbie Burns’ Day

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Robert Burns - January 25th, 1759 – July 21st, 1796

As some of you may already know, the celebration of the birth of Robert Burns is right around the corner. Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist born on January 25, 1759. He is (unofficially) the national poet of Scotland and from some of his works a great lover of scotch. You may know of him through one of his more popular works Auld Lang Syne.

Now, you don’t have to celebrate Scottish traditions to enjoy their finest spirits, but for me my true introduction to Scotch Whiskey stems from the first time I dawned my kilt to celebrate this man’s works and life.

I was invited by my father to the yearly celebration put on by our local Burns’ Club and had heard that some people would bring a flask of scotch to share at the table. This sounded like a fun idea so I got some ideas about what type of scotch I should buy and headed out to the local liquor store. There I purchased a bottle of Glen Morangie10 Year Old. Now posed the problem of “how do I get this expensive liquor into my flask without spilling it”. I’ve learned my lesson and have since bought a funnel in an effort not to waste any more scotch.

At the event there were several open scotch bars at which they served Oban, 14 I think, which I immediately loved. We then commenced the ceremony, watched the pipers, dancers, toasted the Lassies and witnessed the cutting of the haggis. After dinner the flasks came out and I sampled an additional 4 varieties of scotch that night. Needless to say, on my first encounter I was overwhelmed with the uniqueness between the different scotches. I believe I was hooked from that point forward.

So this January 25 enjoy a wee dram, and if you’re in a pub and see a man in a kilt come in great him with a Gie her a haggis and buy him a peck o’ malt.

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