It’s time to start your preparations for Burns Night

Christmas is less than a week away, but there’s still plenty of time to get your preparations ready for January’s big event – Burns Night.

Burns Night falls on Thursday, January 25, and is the chance to celebrate Scotland’s famous bard, Robert Burns, with merriment, whisky and ceilidhs dancing.

With so many traditions to embrace, there’s no reason January should be dull.

To mark the occasion, The Glenlivet has shared its ideas on how to celebrate the occasion in 2018.

Created by George Smith in 1824, The Glenlivet is the original single malt Scotch whisky, renowned for its smooth and fruity flavour profile – and they suggest raising a dram of The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve to Burns.

The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve

Skilful selection of casks enhances the signature fruity flavours of The Glenlivet, while whisky taken from traditional oak casks is complemented by the selective use of American first-fill casks to give a hint of creamy sweetness. The result is a whisky with delicious aromas of citrus fruit and notes of oranges and pears and hints of toffee apples and candy, while the long, creamy, smooth finish makes it deliciously satisfying.

For their Burns night, The Glenlivet recommend the following:

Playlist: Foreground the Music

Go beyond the usual playlist and make music part of the main event. We’re talking about an old-school listening party, where people tone down and share in the moment. A fresh interpretation of a treasured genre is a dependable choice, and there’s enough reinvention going on now in categories like soul (we’re looking at you, Leon Bridges) and southern blues to keep things interesting. Burns, a musical man, would approve. He wrote the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne, the best-known New Year’s tune on the planet.

Power of Words: The Literary Touch
A skilled host shouldn’t have trouble getting guests to gather ‘round for a tale or two. The classic Burns Night reading program would be heavy on rhyming poetry. Don’t write this off entirely— but leave room for alternatives like free verse, short fiction, informal first-person narratives, and a classic ghost story or two. If you can get into a debate about modern fiction at some point, so much the better. Books aren’t just for curling up with; they’re for connecting, especially during that time of year when you’re spending nights indoors—and in that regard, they’ve got at least one thing in common with good single malt.

Haggis isn’t always the first choice for celebrating Burns Night

Dinner: Heat Up Some New Classics

Burns Night purists feast on broth and haggis. No one is saying you have to do that. But the truth is, as much as we rave about the cornucopias of fall and summer, solid winter fare can be just as satisfying. Some of the beefiest, heartiest menu items out there came of age in UK pubs—where they know a thing or two about coming in from the cold with friends. Braised lamb shank pie with mushy peas is one of many elevated main-plate options you can try.

Drinks: Get in the Spirit

There are a number of ways to warm up a room of guests. Of these, providing quality booze is easily the most reliable, so make sure to have The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve on hand. Aged in American oak, with an intense smoothness and creamy sweetness that truly sets it apart from other single malts, it’s the natural choice here—whether served neat, on the rocks, or in a thematically appropriate cocktail like the Auld Fashioned, which goes like this:

The Founder’s Reserve Auld Fashioned. Ingredients: 3 dashes bitters; 3 oz. The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve; 1 tsp. water; 1 sugar cube; 1 orange peel twist; 1 maraschino cherry.

Directions: In a rocks glass, muddle the bitters and water into the sugar cube with a teaspoon or wooden muddler. Fill with ice cubes and add The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve. Garnish with an orange peel and maraschino cherry. Make two more and toast with your closest friends.

The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve has an RRP of £35.10.