The 10 best Burns Night whiskies 2025
Here’s our Top 10 best Burns Night whiskies for 2025.
One of the biggest dates in the year for Scotch whisky fans approaches – Burns Night!
Every January we give ourselves a much-needed excuse to be merry, one month after Christmas the 25 January is the birthday of the great Scottish poet Robert Burns.
Burns Night is a tradition upheld globally and one that is seized not only by patriotic Scotcs but also by whisky fans. Libation, literature and laggis – I mean haggis – will be enjoyed by many as we toast a man who loved a good Scotch himself.
Whether you’re a seasoned Burns supper pro or fancy experiencing one for the first time (you really should do it at least once in your life, it’s great fun), you’ll need to stock up on Scotch to do the night justice. And why not make a suitably Scottish serve while you do?
First, we have our own Burns Night whisky for 2025: Haggis & Neeps & Tatties & Burns 15 Year Old Whisky. If we say so ourselves, it’s a real beauty.
But just one whisky won’t cut the mustard. Here’s our annual watch-me-shoehorn-a-load-of-poems-into-a-whisky-round-up, whisky round-up! It is filled with everything you need to toast Scotland’s national bard.
The 10 best Burns Night whiskies 2025
Talisker Port Ruighe
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis
Buy Talisker whisky for Burns Night 2025 and you’ll be graced with a litany of flavours that reflect the rugged Scottish isles. Smoke, sea, fruit, and spice are a feature of all Talisker single malts but things are ramped up a notch in Talisker Port Ruighe (pronounced Port Ree), which is finished in Port wine casks. Fun fact: another poet, Robert Louis Stevenson, named Talisker a favourite whisky. In his poem The Scotsman’s Return From Abroad, he writes, “The king o’ drinks, as I conceive it, Talisker, Islay, or Glenlivet”. The man had good taste.
Scots serve: The Robbie Burns Roy
Celebrate two Scotch heroes for the price of one (Robert Burns and Rob Roy) at once with this serve. To make it you’ll need a mixing glass, to which you add 60ml of Talisker Port Ruighe, 25ml of Lustau Vermut Rojo and 3 dashes of Angostura Bitters. Stir well, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino Cherry. Serve, preferably at supper while reciting the Address to a Haggis. This means you’ll need to get yourself some haggis (or whatever the vegetarian/vegan equivalent is, I can’t even imagine) and, please forget any negatives you’ve heard, it is smashing.
Bunnahabhain 18 Year Old
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
Bunnahabhain 18 Year Old is proof that patience pays off – 18 years in the making and absolutely worth the wait. Unlike its Islay neighbours, this dram skips the smoky theatrics and goes straight for unpeated brilliance. Crafted on the windswept northeastern shores of Islay since 1881, Bunnahabhain knows a thing or two about making whisky worth talking about.
Scots serve: The Auld Fashioned
The Auld (Old) Fashioned is a classic for a reason and this is a surefire recipe perfect to taste the Bard himself. Start by putting a level teaspoon of brown sugar into an Old Fashioned glass, then add a splash of hot water and two dashes of Fee Brothers Orange Bitters. Stir vigorously so that the sugar dissolves, then add 80ml of Bunnahabhain 18 Year Old. Stir a bit more, add ice cubes, stir a bit more and garnish with a piece of orange peel. Serve while belting out a resounding edition of Auld Lang Syne.
Lochlea Our Barley
Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!
What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Wi’ tippeny, we fear nae evil;
Wi’ usquabae, we’ll face the devil!
Robert Burns called Lochlea home during his younger years, from 1777 to 1784, and the place clearly left its mark. By day, he toiled on the farm; by night, he let loose with friends at the Bachelors’ Club in Tarbolton, probably solving the world’s problems over a dram or two. Lochlea whisky takes inspiration from the spirit of Burns today to make a bold, interesting drop rooted in the rich soil of his old stomping grounds. If you want to try new Scotch whisky, you could do much worse than Lochlea.
Scots serve: Tam Collins
A Jock Collins with a Burns-ian spin, all you have to do to make this one is mix the 60ml of Lochlea Our Barley, 30ml of lemon juice and 1 tsp sugar in a shaker. Then shake and pour into a Collins glass half-filled with ice. Top with soda water, garnish with an orange slice and serve. Simple, sophisticated and oh-so Scottish. And comes with a built-in challenge: to recite the epic Tam O’ Shanter off-by-heart.
Meikle Tòir The Sherry One
O my Luve’s like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in june;
O my Luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly play’d in tune:
Choose sherried whisky for Burns Night with Meikle Tòir, a brand from GlenAllachie that showcases the distillery’s ability to make peated whisky. This blend of smoke and sherry is made using mainland peat from St. Fergus, clocking in at 35ppm, while the 160-hour fermentation time generates heaps of fruitness. After kicking things off in American oak bourbon barrels, the whisky moved on to Pedro Ximénez and oloroso sherry puncheons.
Scots serve: A Red, Red Blood and Sand
The Blood and Sand looks as good as it tastes and, luckily, it’s easy to make. Begin by popping a coupe glass in the freezer for a few minutes before you start to get it nice and chilled. Then add 25ml of Meikle Tòir The Sherry One, 25ml of Martini Rosso, 25ml of Ableforth’s Cherry Brandy (or Heering Cherry Liqueur) and 25ml of fresh orange juice to a shaker with ice and give your best hard shake for about 30 seconds. Then take your chilled glass out of the freezer, pop a Luxardo Maraschino Cherry in the bottom of it, and then strain the mix into the glass. Garnish with orange zest before you serve and recite the beautiful A Red, Red Rose to what I can only imagine will be a room of people struggling to hold back the tears.
Bowmore 15 Year Old
O gin my love were yon red rose,
That grows upon the castle wa’;
And I myself a drap o’ dew,
Into her bonie breast to fa’!
A legendary Islay dram that’s every bit as distinctive and delicious as you would expect it to be. Bowmore 15 Year Old is a perfect indulgence for Burns Nights for those who enjoy the peatier things in life.
Scots serve: The Drap O’ Dew Penicillin
A Burns-tastic adaptation of the classic Penicillin cocktail, probably the finest of all peated whisky cocktails. Combine 50ml blended whisky (Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old or Compass Box Great King Street – Artist’s Blend), 20ml freshly squeezed lemon juice and 20ml honey and ginger syrup into your cocktail shaker. Fill it with ice and give it a good hard shake, then strain into a chilled rocks glass over a large piece of ice. Then gently pour the 15ml of Bowmore 15 Year Old slowly over the back of a spoon so it floats delicately on the top of the drink. Garnish with candied ginger on a skewer and enjoy, while reciting, Ron Swanson-style, the beautiful O Were My Love Yon Lilac Fair to whoever your heart burns for.
Timorous Beastie
Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie,
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!”
Even casual Burns fans will know of his classic poem To a Mouse, which features an unfortunate field mouse he describes as a “tim’rous beastie”. Douglas Laing has paid tribute to this unlikely hero with this expression which has a distinctly Highlands profile thanks to a marriage single malts from the region, including whisky from Blair Athol, Dalmore, Glengoyne and Glen Garioch. Purchase this whisky and you’ll guests will appreciate how on theme you are.
Scots serve: The Beastie Boulevardier
Essentially a whisky equivalent of a Negroni, The Boulevardier is a beautiful, rich and complex serve. To make, combine 45ml of Timorous Beastie, 25ml of Campari and 25ml of Martini Rosso in a mixing glass with ice. Stir, then strain into a chilled tumbler over fresh ice. Garnish with an orange twist, serve and pay tribute to your creation with a rendition of To a Mouse.
Aberfeldy 12 Year Old
O Lord, Thou kens what zeal I bear,
When drinkers drink, an’ swearers swear,
An’ singing here, an’ dancin there,
Wi’ great and sma’
Raise a dram of Aberfeldy 12 Year Old this Burns Night, a Highland malt as golden as the bard’s words. It’s all about creamy sweetness, with notes of heather honey, vanilla, and a gentle hint of spice. Easy to love and dangerously easy to drink – it pairs well with both poetry and pudding.
Scots serve: Holy Willie’s Lasting Darkness
Add ice to a highball glass, and pour in 50ml Aberfeldy 12 Year Old. Top and lengthen with soda, and garnish with fresh grapefruit. Enjoy while discussing what a great satirical poet Burns was by recalling ’, ‘Holy Willie’s Prayer’, an expose of religious hypocrisy.
Chivas Regal 18 Year Old
O Whisky! soul o’ plays and pranks!
Accept a bardie’s gratfu’ thanks!
For a Burns Night worthy of the bard himself, Chivas Regal 18 Year Old is a dram of choice. This luxurious blend, with an extravagant array of malts aged for at least 18 years behind it offers rich layers of dark chocolate, dried fruit, and a whisper of smoke.
Scots serve: The Scotch Drink Sour
A sensationally sour tribute to the Scotch drink, this Whisky Sour is made by adding 50ml Chivas Regal 18 Year Old, 25ml lemon juice, 2 tsp orange marmalade, 2 tsp maple syrup and one egg white to your shaker and dry shaking vigorously for 15 seconds. Fill with ice and shake hard again, then double strain into a chilled tumbler and garnish with a piece of orange zest. Serve and proudly recite the Scotch Drink poem in your best 18th-century Scottish to your entertained/slightly embarrassed guests.
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