Burns Night 2024

History of Burns Night

Burns Night is an annual celebration of the life and work of the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns. It is traditionally held on or around his birthday, January 25^th. Every year, Scots around the world come together to celebrate Burns Night with traditional Scottish food, whisky, poetry and music.

The tradition of Burns Night began in 1801, when Burns’s friends held a dinner in his honour at Burns Cottage in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland. The first Burns night supper was a simple affair, with haggis, whisky and toasts to Burns’s memory. Over time, the celebration evolved, and by the mid-19th century Burns Night had become a formal event in Scotland and many other countries.

Today, the traditional Scottish Burns Night meal begins with the piping in of the haggis. During this time, the guests will gather around the host and listen to a recital of the poem “Address to a Haggis” by Robert Burns. Next, the haggis is served as the first course, usually accompanied by mashed potatoes, turnips, and a whisky sauce. Following the haggis, the main course is usually a hearty dish such as a roasted leg of mutton, accompanied by potatoes and vegetables.

After the meal, guests take turns reciting Burns’s poems, such as “Auld Lang Syne” or “To a Mouse,” while others perform traditional Scottish songs, such as “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose.” As the evening progresses, toasts are made to Burns, and then a cranachan (a traditional dessert a creamy mixture of whisky, honey, oats and raspberries) is served.

The celebration of Burns Night continues today, and is an important part of Scotland’s culture and heritage. It is a chance for Scots to celebrate the life and works of their national poet, and to enjoy traditional Scottish food, drink and music. Burns Night serves as a reminder of the country’s vibrant culture, as a way to come together and celebrate Scotland’s rich history and traditions and to spend time with friends and family.

Although this is a traditional Scottish celebration, we looked into giving the special celebration a modern twist by putting together a couple cocktails to spice up the evening, while still keeping them close to their roots.

Burns Night Cocktail Recipes

Whisky Sour

Starting off strong with the scotch whiskey sour, often overlooked by the bourbon whiskey sour, not for the faint of heart, a boozy cocktail, hitting hard with a dry and sour taste. In a cocktail shaker, add the Scotch whisky, 2 ice cubes and lemon juice, with a dash of syrup, egg white and bitters. Shake the contents of the cocktail shaker for 1 minute to foam the egg. Pour contents of the cocktail shaker into a rock whiskey glass through a sieve to catch unwanted egg remains, and to polish it off you can sprinkle some more bitters, and in some cases an orange. Our perfect Scottish whiskey glass for a Scottish cocktail would be our DIAMANTE Six Mackintosh Inspired Crystal Whisky Tumbler Glasses etched with a Mackintosh Design Set of 6pcs

2 oz Scotch Whisky
1 oz Lemon Juice
5 oz Simple Syrup
1 Egg White
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

The Bobby Burns

Very fitting for a Burns night, The Bobby Burns, aptly named after the famous poet is a must. Dating back to as early as 1902, another rarer cocktail, being mixed with scotch rather than bourbon. A rather easy cocktail to make. Firstly start with adding the scotch, vermouth and Benedictine to a mixing glass with ice and continue to stir until chilled, once you feel it is chilled enough, strain into one of our fantastic collection of Diamante cocktail glasses, and to finish the drink off Twist a lemon peel over the cocktail glass to release its juice and then drop it into the drink. Our choice of glass for this cocktail would be our DIAMANTE Hand Cut Martini, Prosecco Cocktail Glasses Crystal – ‘Linea’ Collection – Gift Box Set of 2…with a tall base, and a wider saucer on top, to hold the lemon nicely. The glasses are hand cut and polished with an elegant design to add a touch of class to your whiskey cocktail

1 ounce blended scotch whisky
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce Benedictine
Garnish: lemon peel

The Macallan Mule

A final cocktail is the The Macallan Mule, although Mallacan may be on the expensive side, we like to do things right. This cocktail has a hit of spice, using chillies as well as ginger beer to hit this kick. Another fairly simple cocktail; firstly fill your whiskey mule glass with ice, pour the ingredients in the following order. Starting off with The Macallan Double Cask, followed swiftly by pineapple cordial and lemon juice. Top off the rest with your ginger beer. Finally gently stir and garnish with 3 slices of red chili. For this we recommend a highball, due to the large amount of liquid in this cocktail. For us it’d have to be the DIAMANTE Water or Cocktail Glasses Crystal Long Drink Hi Balls – ‘Ava’ Collection – Gift Box of 2 with its elegant but timeless design.