Why Do Whisky Drinkers Celebrate Burns Night?

Burns Night. Each year on 25 January, whisky drinkers join Scots, people who love the Scots (a group which actually contains very few Scots), and any up for a good party in a proper knees-up. A celebration, party, feast, and fancy, a Hootenanny heard, seen, and consumed all around the globe.

The purpose is ostensibly to honour the life and works of Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), Scotland’s most famous poet, on his birthday. But the tradition has become more of a general ceremony to honour all things Scottish heritage; with kilts, haggis, and Scotch whisky at the centre of the festivities. 

Burns embodied and defined so much of what it means to be Scottish, so it seems only fitting. The celebration has evolved over the years, becoming a portal for Scots abroad to connect with home in a way St. Andrews Day never quite mustered. Burns Night is closer to Scotland’s answer to St Patrick’s Day and what it does for Irish expats the world over. 

It’s also the most real thing we have to a whisky-dedicated holiday, outside of the odd International/World/National Whisky Days that desperately cling to the calendar for a shot of stardom. None come close to the authenticity, history, and purpose of Burns Night, with whisky (and in particular Scotch) playing a central role in the festivities. 

Whisky, Burns Night and the Burns Supper

At the heart of Burns Night is the Burns Supper. This is very much the event at the centre of the event, like Christmas Dinner Round II, except it’s all steeped in Scottish culture. 

The evening typically features haggis, neeps, and tatties. The men sport their kilts of tartan and more. It’s all very traditional fare. Throughout the evening there are recitals of Burn’s poetry, most notably when the haggis is ceremonially presented.

His famous Address to a Haggis is read aloud to great theatrics, especially at the line “An’ cut you up wi’ ready slicht,” when the reader draws their Sgian Dubh (pronounced ‘ski-en doo’, this small knife is part of traditional highland dress) from their kilt sock to cut open the haggis. The feast is toasted with whisky and then served.

While the haggis is the star in the Burns Night Supper, whisky takes plenty of the spotlight too. Toasts and pairings complement each course of the meal. Whisky being as quintessentially Scottish as Iron Bru or the poet himself makes it a natural pairing, but in recent years people have gone to greater lengths to ensure that whisky actually does pair with the food like a good wine would. 

We even commissioned a modern Burns Night supper menu ourselves two years ago. But why is whisky so associated with the man more than any other patriotic Scot? Let’s explore.

Why Do Whisky Drinkers Celebrate Burns Night?

Burns’ Relationship with Whisky

Robert Burns is an enduring figure, the writer of classics like Auld Lang Syne, Tam O’Shanter, and To a Mouse. Much in the way Shakespeare is synonymous with English literature, so is Burns in Scotland, and Burns Night is a way of honouring this heritage.

He had a keen eye for the intricacies of life, what habits and rituals guided society, what united and divided people, and what brought them joy and sorrow. He was also a passionate advocate of freedom and much of his work was written in Scots and concerned the life, identity, and culture of his beloved country. This informed his profound connection to whisky, not just as a drink but as a symbol of identity and camaraderie.

Whisky appears in many of his works, reflecting not only his personal affinity for it and its cultural importance. In Scotch Drink (1786), Burns celebrates whisky’s virtues and its ability to bring comfort and courage:

“Gie him strong drink until he wink, That’s sinking in despair; An’ liquor guid to fire his bluid, That’s prest wi’ grief and care:“

Burns once worked the farm at Lochlea, now a distillery, but the closest he came to working with whisky was his job as an excise officer. Enforcing tax laws on distilled spirits, this curious contradiction in his life saw him at odds with his often anti-establishment, pro-whisky positions. But his experiences did little to dampen his love for the drink. 

Whisky in Burns’s Poetry

In Tam o’ Shanter, one of Burns’ most celebrated poems, whisky takes centre stage as both inspiration and enabler:

“Inspiring bold John Barleycorn! What dangers thou canst make us scorn! Wi’ tippeny, we fear nae evil; Wi’ usquabae, we’ll face the devil!“

Burns also championed whisky as a symbol of national pride and resilience in The Author’s Earnest Cry and Prayer. Written in response to the 1786 Scotch Distillery Act, this passionate polemic laments the economic challenges facing Scottish distillers while celebrating whisky’s role in Scotland’s identity:

“Freedom and whisky gang thegither, Tak aff your dram!“

His poem Scotch Drink was written during the year after new excise legislation in the form of the Wash Act had ended the exemption of duty payments enjoyed by the Protestant Forbes family’s Ferintosh distilleries in Ross-shire

“Thee, Ferintosh! O sadly lost!”. 

In The Jolly Beggars (1785) Burns refers to “that dear Kilbagie”. He goes from being one of Kilbagie’s best customers to later condemning the whisky it makes as “most rascally liquor and in consequence only drunk by the most rascally part of the inhabitants.”

Whisky’s Role in Burns Night Today

When whisky drinkers raise a glass on 25 January, they’re not just celebrating Robert Burns. But an enduring connection. One between whisky, culture, and the values Burns championed. 

As the poet himself wrote, “Inspirer of the poet’s dream!” Whisky, like Burns, continues to inspire and unite. 

Have a great Burns Night everyone. Be sure to enter our Burns Night Poetry Competition if you haven’t already and check out our Top 10 Best Whiskies for Burns Night 2025 if you need any dramming inspiration.

Slàinte mhath! 

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