Ignore the snobbery and get into blended whisky

4 days ago 14

We have Robert Burns to thank for perhaps the greatest poem about any dish ever – a poem so good that it inspires an entire nation to dedicate an evening of each year to eating haggis, even though most people find it kind of gross.

No? If the “Great Chieftan o’ the Puddin-race” were that delicious, we’d all be eating it all the time, surely? And yet Burns’ Address to a Haggis is enticing enough to dispel any such doubts just once a year. I especially like the bit about slitting it open so the bright entrails spill out: “And then, O what a glorious sight / Warm-reekin, rich!”

The poem is, really, an argument against culinary snobbery, and in favour of a sensuous appreciation of the here and now. So it’s strange how, when it comes to scotch whisky – the traditional accompaniment to Burns Night feasting – something approaching the opposite attitude prevails. It wasn’t so long ago that single malt scotch – “as noble a product of Scotland as any burgundy or champagne is of France,” as the Highlands writer Neil Gunn had it – was, like haggis, little appreciated outside Scotland. However, over the past few decades, the style has rebounded so successfully that single malt (that is, whisky produced from malted barley in one distillery) is almost a luxury marque in itself. When Tom Hiddleston’s agent poses as a sleazy investor in The Night Manager, this is the drink he demands. Distilleries such as the Macallan have meanwhile leaned into the premium market with fashion collabs and elaborate packaging. Prices have inflated. Snobbery, too. And, along the way, a certain Burnsian gusto has been lost.

Happily, a counter-trend is taking root, towards making Scotch fun and, dare I say it, affordable again. If you’re interested in liquid as opposed to label, I’d recommend seeking out independent bottlers – smaller operators who buy up casks from distilleries and age them in their own warehouses (with a bit of judicious Googling, it’s not so hard to figure out which prestigious distillery the liquid actually comes from, either). Indeed, it was these independent bottlers who helped create the demand for single malts in the days when distilleries mostly concentrated on blends.

Then again, what’s wrong with blended whisky? For most of the 20th century, the most revered whiskies were blends of grain and malt from all corners of Scotland. The American John Glaser helped to revive interest in the category with his Compass Box brand, newly available in Waitrose, and one of its early releases was pointedly called This Is Not a Luxury Whisky. Even more pointedly, Compass Box published the full recipe online, incurring the wrath of the Scotch Whisky Association in the process.

The point is, Scotch is a wonderful thing upon which “to deliberate thoughtfully”, as Gunn had it. But it’s also pretty fun just necking it with mates, lobbing it into a shaker or, my personal fave, mixing it with coconut water (try it!). There’s plenty to keep you going, all year round.