Thanks For Coming Back! Your Free Allocated Content Will Shortly Be Coming to an End. We would like to give you a 14-Day Free Trial with No Credit Card Required.

Create a profile and unlock personalized features. Receive your personalised daily report. Login to your Personal FEED, Follow and Join Channel VIP Rooms. Comment and be part of our global community. Get access to all member content with No Censorship, Freedom of Speech, No tracking, No algorithms and NO A.I. Plus much more. Click the START button, complete the form below and verify your email address.

This offer expires in
00 00 00

Start your free trial now!
No Payment or Credit Card Required

Already a premium member? Log in here

Skip the Trial - Join Us Now

Join the Worldwide Community That Believe in the Protection of Freedom of Speech

Your Free Allocated Content Has come to an End. However, We would like to give you a 14-Day Free Trial with No Credit Card Required.

Create a profile and unlock personalized features. Receive your personalised daily report. Login to your Personal FEED, Follow and Join Channel VIP Rooms. Comment and be part of our global community. Get access to all member content with No Censorship, Freedom of Speech, No tracking, No algorithms and NO A.I. Plus much more. Click the START button, complete the form below and verify your email address.

This offer expires in
00 00 00

Start your free trial now!
No Payment or Credit Card Required

Already a premium member? Log in here

Skip the Trial - Join Us Now

Join the Worldwide Community That Believe in the Protection of Freedom of Speech

You need to log in to proceed.

Login

Read

A guide to the perfect Burns Night

  • elocal magazine By elocal magazine

The Christmas leftovers are - finally - done with. You’ve linked arms and sung in the New Year with Auld Lang Syne. And, no doubt, you’ve seen through the festive season with a few servings of your favourite whisky.

Once the echoes of the departing year are over, settling into the new one can feel pretty anticlimactic. But, fortunately, there’s one unmissable reason to enjoy your favourite Scotch, fire up the ovens and gather your nearest and dearest in January - Burns Night.

Whether you’ve got Scotland in your blood, or your heart just beats for all things Caledonia, anyone and everyone is welcome to celebrate Scotland’s finest poet, Scotland’s finest dishes and Scotland’s finest whiskies all on one magical evening.

When is Burns Night 2025?

You’ll want to be stocked up on your favourite Scotch whiskies by Saturday, January 25, Robert ‘Rabbie’ Burns’ birthday.

Burns Night has been celebrated across Scotland for centuries now, with the tradition starting shortly after Burns’ death in 1796, when his friends made a pact to celebrate his life every year on July 21 – the date of his death.

The first Burns Supper was held in 1801. However, over the years it became tradition to celebrate the Scots poet on his birthday instead, which is why we now toast away the cold January weather with warming whiskies, hot Scottish food and the coming together of a community.

How is Burns Night celebrated?

Don’t be confused if you hear Auld Lang Syne on Burns Night - the song traditionally associated with New Year’s Eve may play out as the lyrics are taken from a Burns poem.

Recreations of Burns’ poems, Scottish music and plenty of community spirit is at the heart of your typical Burns Night celebrations, culminating in the Burns Supper.

What whiskies to drink on Burns Night

A special occasion such as Burns Night deserves a special dram. But what to pick? Ewan Gunn, global ambassador for luxury whiskies, weighs in with three exceptional selections.

Johnnie Walker Black Label

"Burns Night is celebrated across Scotland and indeed the world, so what better dram for raising a toast to the Bard than a whisky that is enjoyed across the world and that has been crafted by bringing together whiskies from all four corners of Scotland. Whether you enjoy the sweet honey notes of the Highlands, the orchard fruits of Speyside, the delicate floral flavours of the Lowlands, or the smoke of Islay, you’ll be certain to find the flavour you love encapsulated in this whisky."

Mortlach 20 Year Old

"The ideal match for the pepper spice of haggis, the “Beast of Dufftown” has rich, intensity and bold flavour at it’s core. At 20 years old, Mortlach evolves into a sophisticated dram with great complexity and depth whilst retaining the power for which it is adored. Try pouring a small amount onto the haggis to enhance the flavour."

Clynelish 14 Year Old

"With sweet honeysuckle notes and an unctuous creamy texture, Clynelish is the perfect accompaniment to the traditional Scottish dessert of Cranachan (made with whipped cream, whisky, oatmeal, honey and raspberries), and even works brilliantly as part of the recipe. Even if you’re not serving this dessert as part of your Burns Night celebrations, Clynelish will still work as the perfect dram to round off your evening."

What to eat on Burns Night

Haggis is typically a big part of a Burns Night feast as Burns, true to his patriotism, was a fan of the national dish, describing it as the ‘great chieftain o’ the puddin-‘race’ in his ode to the dish, titled Address to a Haggis.

Any stereotypes of Scotland usually involve mention of haggis, a dish which boasts such ingredients as the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (usually, but it could be another animal), minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. This mixture is packed into a sheep’s stomach and boiled.

If you like the idea of doing something steeped in Scots history, but haven’t the stomach for traditional haggis, you can modernise the recipe.

Vegetarian haggis can be served up for a more inclusive Burns Night supper.

You can also serve up simpler dishes, including:

  • Neeps and tatties (also known as turnips and potatoes)
  • Roast beef
  • Steak pie
  • Salmon
  • Soups
  • A cheeseboard..

Saying the Selkirk Grace

If you really want to impress any guests, as well as serving up some fine Scottish whiskies like Glenkinchie (a Lowlands whisky which is a nod to the time Robert Burns spent living in Edinburgh), serve it up with the Selkirk Grace, a traditional speech ascribed to the famed poet.

Before you feast, raise your rocks glasses or whisky cocktails and say,

Some hae meat and canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it,

But we hae meat and we can eat,

Sae let the Lord be Thankit!


Beyond Burns Night - discover Scotland for yourself

At the heart of any great malt is legacy. From families to local communities and traditions, every drop tells a story of Scotland.

What Burns Night really encourages us to do - all of us, whether we have roots to the country or not - is to appreciate the heritage and history of Scotland, through his poems and his love of the national flavours.

Spend Burns Night 2025 toasting with your nearest and dearest, but consider coming and tracing some of Burns’ footsteps . As the great man said himself, ‘My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.’



 Diageo


Home & Living
Avatar

View elocal magazine’s premium content now…

Get a free 14 day trial (no credit card required)

Already a premium member? Log in here

Skip the Trial - Join Us Now