The Sunday Times Magazine - UK (2022-01-23)

The Sunday Times Magazine • 45

Will Lyons

A

ccording to figures from the

Scotch Whisky Association

(SWA), by the time you finish

reading this sentence about 40

bottles of whisky will have been

shipped from Scotland to more

than 180 markets across the globe.

Burns Night won’t measure up

without some kindred spirits

Arran Robert
Burns Single Malt
Scotch Whisky
Royal Mile
Whiskies,
£33.95 (43%)
Often described
as Scotland in
miniature, the Isle of
Arran is stunning to
visit and since 1994
has had its own
distillery. Endorsed
by the Robert Burns
World Federation,
this is a light dram
with a honeyed,
malty character.

That’s more than a billion bottles

a year — the SWA claims that if you

laid them end to end they would

stretch nearly 90 per cent of the

way to the moon. Quite a thought.

Whichever way you dress it up,

Scotch is a staggering success story

that puts the English wine industry,

which in a good year produces 15

million bottles, firmly in its place.

Not that the two are competing

really — there’s certainly room for

bottles of both English sparkling

wine and whisky in my house.

The end of January is the perfect

time to celebrate this glorious,

complex, amber-coloured spirit,

which can taste and smell of

Highland Park

Viking Honour

12-Year-Old

Majestic, £34

(40%)

Overlooking Scapa

Flow on Orkney,

the Highland Park

distillery is closer to

Oslo than London

and produces a

range of consistently

excellent whiskies.

The 12-year-old

is rich and elegant,

with fruit, citrus and

peppery notes. Try it

with smoked salmon.

Glen Moray Sherry

Cask Speyside

Single Malt

The Whisky

Exchange,

£26.95 (40%)

This easy-drinking,

slightly honey-

scented whisky from

Speyside is one of

the best-value single

malts on the market

and has been flying

off shelves. Finished

for eight months

in sherry casks, it

brims with dried fruit

and sweet spice.

Monkey Shoulder

Blended Malt

Scotch Whisky

Sainsbury’s,

£27.50 (40%)

Created in 2005

by the makers of

Glenfiddich, Monkey

Shoulder is a blend

of three Speyside

single malts and was

designed primarily

as a mixing spirit

for cocktails. It’s

a top-class drop,

though, with smooth

vanilla, orange and

a touch of cinnamon.

Lagavulin

16-Year-Old Islay

Single Malt

The Whisky

Exchange,

£69.95 (43%)

This exceptional,

classic single malt

from the Inner

Hebridean island

of Islay is one of the

best in the world.

Richly flavoured and

peaty, with pungent

aromas of lapsang

souchong and iodine,

it’s a robust and

complex dram.

Johnnie Walker

Red Label Blended

Scotch Whisky

Waitrose, £15

(40%)

Don’t let anyone tell

you Burns Night is all

about malt whisky, as

a well-honed blend

can provide just

as much pleasure.

Reduced from £20

until Tuesday, Red

Label is a reliable

Scotch conveying

hints of aromatic

spice and fruit, with

a long, smoky finish.

anything from dark chocolate to

old cigar boxes, sherry and vanilla

to cereal and honey.

In this business we often talk

about vin de méditation — a wine

that’s nursed in the glass while you

gently sip and consider its evolving

flavour. Whisky, especially single

malt, is ideally suited to this ritual,

and above all on January 25. Burns

Night is when lovers of Scotland’s

most famous poet gather to toast

his life with a glass in hand, haggis

on their plate and a poem or two

read over candlelight. I’ll raise a

glass to that — slàinte mhath! n

Twitter: @Will_Lyons

Instagram: @mrwill_lyons

Drink