Matt's Blog

10 February 2009

Burns' Night Bash

The end of January saw not one outing, but two for our now famous ‘Burns’ night bash’.  On Thursday, January 22nd we were joined by 50 people over at the Grosvenor Hotel in Stratford-Upon-Avon, then on the following night, Friday January 23rd, we travelled over to Leamington Spa to do the whole thing again with another 70 people at the Angel Hotel.

So on Friday the 23rd, just before 7:30pm the bar started filling up with thirsty whisky punters, before the pipers started up just before 8pm.  By 8pm, everyone was in, seated and ready to go.

Mark started his presentation with an introduction of the life of Burns including the always ironic fact that we can get so many people interested in the life of Scotland’s Bard, being that we’re in Warwickshire with our shop located right next to the birthplace of William Shakespeare…

As this year saw the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robbie Burns we made sure the whiskies on show were particularly spectacular, including the appearance of a never before tasted limited edition 7th dram.

We started with a taste of two drams from our first of three great distilleries:  Tullibardine.  Not the most famous of distilleries but one capable of producing some fantastic malts.  The first up was their 1993 vintage, a great one to start with as this is a very easy to drink malt with a nice crisp finish, definitely eminently quaffable.  It was extremely smooth and mellow with a fruity flavour and very a delicate nose. On the palate this was fresh, with a floral scent and notes of vanilla and chocolate orange.

Next up, staying with Tullibardine, we tried their 1993 ‘Sauternes finish’.  An exceptional dram this one.  A deep yellow gold colour with a plummy, sweet, Mirabelle fruit, chilled fresh fruit salad note with traces of orange citrus.  On the palate the taste was smooth and oily, the texture round and fruity.  With a few drops of water the story only got better, from very good to really exceptional - the sweet wine plumminess became volatile and brought an incredible, very long lasting finish.

Next we moved distilleries, crossing over to Islay to try a couple of great drams from Bruichladdich distillery.  Not a distillery that needed a great deal of introduction.  Since being re-opened in 2001 with master distiller Jim McEwan at the helm, this distillery has gone from strength to strength.  First up was the excellent Bruichladdich 12 year old.  Initially, on the nose this was stunning, with fruit and floral notes and aromas of almonds, Madeira cask and apple blossom.  On the palate this dram offered toasted sweet oak flavours with a beautiful rich and fruity character.  Complex and very elegant on the finish.

Staying with Bruichladdich we then tried their limited edition Manzanilla cask, a ten year old that’s spent its entire life in Spanish Manzanilla casks.  Limited to a total production of just 6000 bottles, this fine dram offered flavours of honey, chamomile, macadamia nut, pear, lemon and green apple with the faintest whiff of smoke.  A truly complex and fine dram.

Half way through and time for Stuart Lawson to wow the crowd.  The Pipers started back up and the haggis was piped around and into the centre of the room.  Stuart laid on a complete masterpiece of an address, which was truly exceptional to watch.

On the right of the screen is the complete wording of the address, a true mouthful, but Stuart didn’t falter even once.  And with his kind permission, the entire video is hopefully streaming below, or to see the whole thing in high quality, have a look on youtube.

After a very satisfying meal of Haggis, neeps and tatties, Stuart entertained us with another poem of Burns, entitled ‘To a Louse’.

Next we returned to the Whisky tasting and Mark introduced the next three drams for us.  Next distillery up was Arran, Scotland’s youngest active distillery, situated on the Isle of Arran, built just 12 years ago.  The first dram was their excellent 10 year old.  This great malt was a light gold in colour, with a nose of lemon biscuits and toffee. The palate was very well balanced yet full-bodied and malty.  This superb whisky finished sweet and long. A five star dram.

For the penultimate dram we stayed with Arran, but next up was one of their great wood finish range.  This was the Grand Cru St. Emilion finish, a whisky that had been matured for 10 years in Bourbon casks then finished for a further year in Grand Cru St. Emilion casks from Château Fonplégade.  This was truly exceptional and proved to be the most popular of the evening.  On the nose this dram provided aromas of plum jam, cherries and toasted oak.  The palate was fresh and fruity but with plenty of structure.  On the finish were notes of black fruits and oak.  Truly excellent.

The time had come to reveal the special guest of the whisky line-up, whisky number seven.  To celebrate the fact that this event was the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, this whisky was a very special limited edition dram produced by Arran distillery to celebrate this very occasion.  It was the Arran Robert Burns 250 year Anniversary Edition, a release of just 6000 bottles, produced from casks from 1998, hand-selected by their distillery manager James MacTaggart.  A real treat it was to be able to try this exceptional dram, as most will no doubt end up in the hands of collectors gathering dust.   After its ten years of maturity this whisky had developed a beautiful aroma with a wonderfully rich character.

Mark drew the proceedings to an end and we all returned to the bar for a final drink before heading home.

Special thanks to Stuart Lawson for his flawless address and additional poem.  Thanks also to Malcolm Cowen limited for sponsoring this event and helping us to raise over £200 for our chosen charity:  The Shakespeare Hospice.