Whisky A few ideas to add fire to Burns Night

BURNS Night, less than a fortnight away, is a great excuse to raise a dram. Here are two whisky cocktails to inspire a night of poetry and a few choice nips too.

Bobby Burns

“Whisky cocktails are increasingly popular,” says James McTaggart, master distiller, Isle of Arran Distillers. “Pick a softer whisky for mixing to give you the option of a varied menu. We developed a number of recipes with Robert Burns single malt (£29.99, 70cl, masterofmalt.com) for this very reason.”

To make a Bobby Burns, fill a mixing glass with ice and add 50ml Robert Burns single malt, 25ml sweet vermouth, two dashes of Angostura bitters and 5ml Benedictine. Stir, then strain into a chilled martini glass, garnishing with a cherry. Lagavulin sour “The sweet and sharp combination of flavours of a whisky sour are a great way to cleanse the palate,” says Donald Colville of Diageo. “A whisky sour with the 200th-anniversary bottling of Lagavulin 8 Year Old (£52.95, 70cl, masterofmalt.com) works especially well.”

Fill a cocktail shaker with 50ml Lagavulin 8 Year Old, 15ml freshly squeezed lemon juice, 10ml freshly squeezed orange juice, 10ml sugar syrup, two dashes of Angostura bitters and 25ml egg white. Shake initially without ice, then open it up, fill with ice and shake again. Fill a glass with ice and strain the sour into the glass. Garnish with a wedge of lemon.

For single malts, first look to Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest (£52, 70cl, Amazon), which spends the last three years in sherry casks which give it colour and a warming finish.

Ailsa Bay (£53.95, 70cl, thewhiskyexchange.com) is a Lowland whisky and balances smoke and sweetness with peatiness on the palate. One to pair with the haggis and neeps.

The Bothy – Quarter Cask 2nd Edition (£54.99, 70cl, arranwhisky.com) is a full bodied expression of the Arran malt. Add a dash of water and enjoy a wee nip with cranachan.