Robert Burns – Whisky Hero
For any whiskey lover, the 25th of January is a day worth celebrating as it is the birthday of one of the true luminaries in the pantheon of whiskey heroes: Robert Burns. Luckily, you have an entire nation to help you out—along with the multitudes of Scots spread throughout the world. Although many writers and poets have been known to praise whiskey, it was Burns, the Bard of Scotland, who should rightfully be considered not only the originator of the tradition, but the most honored contributor to the genre. While Jim Morrison famously proclaimed, “Yes, show me the way to the next whiskey bar” it was Robert Burns whose verse swayed an entire wing of Parliament and turned the consumption of whisky, Scotch whisky, into an act of defiance that made it the very lifeblood of Scottish national identity.
The story of the poet Robert Burns is told and retold on his birthday each year at Burns Night celebrations the world over. Among the time-honored traditions observed on Burns Night is a recitation of his Ode to a Haggis as a haggis is ceremonially doused with whisky and carved, and the consumption of copious amounts of the drink that he praised in his poems.
Indeed, it was his The Author’s Earnest Cry and Prayer To the Scotch Representatives in the House of Commons that may have changed the course of whiskey history. Composed in 1786 the poem was a plea to the 45 Scottish Members of Parliament to oppose the proposed hike in the excise tax on Scottish whisky in a bid to bolster the market for English gin and, some feared, put whisky out of business entirely. While I won’t explicate the entire 32 stanzas, the sentiment is best summed up in the penultimate line, “Freedom and whisky gang thegither”—Freedom and whisky go together. So raise a glass of your finest Scotch to Rabbie Burns this 25th and toast him as they do in Scotland. Slainte!